Ukraine war: EU countries accuse Russia of war crimes but sanctions on energy appear unlikely
- ‘What’s happening in Mariupol is a massive war crime. This is something awful,’ said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell
- A group of countries led by Germany wants a pause on new sanctions amid concerns about high energy prices and fears that Russia might halt gas exports to Europe
European Union countries on Monday accused Russia’s military of committing war crimes in Ukraine, but appeared unlikely to target the country’s energy sector with sanctions soon despite a clamour across Europe for those responsible for attacks on civilians to be held to account.
With civilian deaths mounting in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock highlighted the increase in Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and theatres.
The “courts will have to decide, but for me these are clearly war crimes”, Baerbock said.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who chaired a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels, said that “what’s happening in Mariupol is a massive war crime. Destroying everything, bombarding and killing everybody in an indiscriminate manner. This is something awful”.
The encircled southern city on the Sea of Azov has seen some of the worst horrors of the war. City officials say that at least 2,300 people have died in the siege, with some buried in mass graves.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands is gathering evidence about any possible war crimes in Ukraine, but Russia, like the United States, does not recognise the tribunal’s jurisdiction.
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Search for survivors continues after barracks in Ukraine’s southern Mykolayiv attacked by Russia
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said his country is “certainly open to other mechanisms for accountability in terms of the atrocities that are taking place in Ukraine right now”.