BERLIN, April 5. /TASS/. Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has argued against introducing an embargo on Russian gas supplies despite another upsurge in aggravation of the relations with Moscow.
"If full embargo stopped the conflict, we would immediately do it," she was quoted as saying by the German publication Die Welt on Tuesday. The top diplomat believes such a decision would increase the price of continuing the conflict. Nevertheless, Baerbock assured that that the German authorities would discuss the process of reducing the dependency on Russian gas with EU partners.
On Monday, EU institutions and a number of European Union’s member states urged to impose more sanctions against Russia immediately following reports about alleged civilian killings in Bucha, Kiev Region. The Ukrainian side said Russia was responsible for what happened there.
On April 3, the Russian Defense Ministry rejected the Kiev regime’s accusations of civilian killings in Bucha. The ministry noted that the Russian Armed Forces had left Bucha on March 30, while "the evidence of crimes" emerged only four days later, after Ukrainian Security Service officers had entered the town. The ministry stressed that on March 31, the town’s Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk had confirmed in a video address that there were no Russian troops in Bucha. However, he did not say a word about civilians shot dead on the street.
Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya held an emergency press conference on Monday after the United Kingdom, who is currently presiding in the UN Security Council, had twice in one day rejected Russia’s requests for a UNSC meeting on the Bucha developments. At the press conference, Russian diplomats presented videos made in Bucha right after the withdrawal of Russian troops. The videos show Ukrainian troops and the town’s mayor in high spirits, talking about their "victory" and failing to mention any killings.