The European Union accused, this Wednesday, April 27, Russia of “blackmail” with gas after it had closed the tap of “blue gold” to Poland and Bulgaria, while Moscow claimed to have destroyed “a large quantity of weapons” supplied by the West to Ukraine.
At a time when the West is stepping up its efforts to arm the Ukrainians against Russia, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that “sheds with a large quantity of foreign weapons and ammunition, delivered to the Ukrainian forces by the United States and European countries, had been destroyed with Kalibr missiles fired from the sea at the Zaporizhia aluminum plant in southern Ukraine.
- Suspension of Russian gas: Bulgaria and Poland supplied by their EU neighbors
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that Poland and Bulgaria, which are highly dependent on Russian gas, were now supplied “by their neighbors in the European Union”.
“We will ensure that Gazprom’s decision has the least possible effect on European consumers,” assured the head of the Brussels executive in a brief speech to the press. “The measure taken by Russia affects Russia itself. The Kremlin is hurting the Russian economy because they are depriving themselves of significant income,” she said.
Bulgaria and Poland had already said they were able to obtain the missing gas from other sources.
“This is not blackmail”, but a response to “unfriendly acts”, retorted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, an allusion to the freezing of Russian foreign currency reserves held abroad.
- Brussels proposes to suspend all EU customs duties for Ukrainian products
The European Commission proposed on Wednesday to suspend for one year all customs duties on Ukrainian products imported into the EU in order to support the economy of the country attacked by Russia.
This proposal, which still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and the 27 member countries, is “an unprecedented gesture of support for a country at war”, the European executive said in a statement. The United Kingdom had already announced on Monday the elimination of its customs duties on products imported from Ukraine.
- Moscow says it destroyed a ‘large amount’ of weapons supplied by the West
The Russian army claimed on Wednesday that it destroyed in a strike a “large quantity” of weapons delivered to kyiv by the United States and European countries, at a time when Western efforts are intensifying to arm Ukraine in the face of Moscow.
“Sheds with a large amount of foreign weapons and ammunition, delivered to the Ukrainian forces by the United States and European countries, were destroyed with high-precision Kalibr missiles fired from the sea at the aluminum plant Zaporizhia” in southeastern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said. He did not specify which weapons were destroyed in the strike.
The Russian military also claims to have carried out airstrikes against 59 Ukrainian targets, including 50 where troops were located and four ammunition depots.
- Ukraine’s ambassador to France convinced of his country’s victory
“We are convinced that we will win,” Ukraine’s ambassador to France, Vadym Omelchenko, said on Wednesday in a daily maintenance Nice morning, believing that the Ukrainians have “already won the first phase”.
“The Russians had invaded Ukraine via eight axes, there are only two left. Elsewhere, they were expelled from Ukrainian territory,” said Vadym Omelchenko. “The second phase, a massive invasion in the East and in the Donbass, has been going on for eight days. Without success,” added the diplomat, according to whom Vladimir Putin’s future initiatives “will depend on the determination of the West and of the Western community”.
- In Moscow, Guterres calls for a ceasefire “as soon as possible”
During his first trip to Moscow since the start of the offensive, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres pleaded on Tuesday for a ceasefire “as soon as possible”. He said he was “concerned by the repeated reports of possible war crimes”, judging that they “require an independent investigation”. “Despite everything, the negotiations are continuing (…) I hope that we will reach a positive result”, declared Russian President Vladimir Putin during this meeting.
- Berlin to deliver tanks to Ukraine, France guns
Until now cautious in its policy of military support for Ukraine, Germany made an about-turn on Tuesday by authorizing the delivery to Ukraine of around fifty “anti-aircraft tanks”. For its part, France should send guns with a range of 40 kilometers, while the Netherlands will provide kyiv with “a limited number” of armored howitzers of the Panzerhaubitze 2000 type capable of firing at targets 50 km away, the government confirmed on Tuesday. The United Kingdom delivered anti-aircraft missiles and Poland tanks.
- Moscow targets bridges and railways to slow arms deliveries
As the conflict now bogs down in eastern and southern Ukraine, Russian forces are bombing bridges and railways to slow down Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, an adviser to the Minister of Defense said on Tuesday. Ukrainian interior, after the destruction of a strategic road linking the country to Romania.
- US Attorney General backs transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine
US Justice Secretary Merrick Garland said on Tuesday he would support a possible parliamentary initiative to allow assets seized from Russian oligarchs to go “directly” to Ukraine. “The first thing we need to do is freeze the assets. But we would support a bill that would allow some of that money to go straight to Ukraine,” he told a hearing. before a Senate committee that questioned him on how the authorities were handling the seized Russian assets.
In early April, lawmakers failed to back a bill that would have authorized the White House to liquidate assets seized from Russian billionaires to return the funds to kyiv.
The idea was rejected after the powerful freedom organization ACLU indicated that such a project would violate the Constitution, the oligarchs having no means of legal recourse to challenge the administrative decision, reported the Washington Post.