Russia on Wednesday said it was considering various options to deal with a proposed oil embargo by the European Union (EU).
The EU’s chief executive earlier in the day proposed a phased oil embargo on Russia, besides sanctions on its top bank and a ban on Russian broadcasters from European airwaves in part of its toughest measures yet to punish Moscow over its military onslaught in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We are looing into different options.”
Read here for live updates on the war
Peskov further said Russia was not storming the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, after Ukraine accused Moscow of launching a “powerful” assault on the industrial zone where Kyiv’s forces were holed up.
“The order was publicly given by the supreme commander-in-chief to cancel the assault,” Peskov told reporters, referring to an order given by President Vladimir Putin last month not to pursue an attack on the area. “There is no storming,” Peskov said.
The Kremlin also dismissed speculation that Putin planned to declare a war against its pro-West neighbour and declare a national mobilisation on May 9 when Russia would commemorate the Soviet Union’s victory in World War Two.
“There is no chance of that. It’s nonsense,” Peskov said.
Putin will deliver a speech on May 9 and oversee a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square.
Further, the Kremlin said no agreement had been reached on a possible meeting between Putin and Pope Francis for talks on the Ukraine war.
Pope Francis said in a recent interview he had asked for a meeting in Moscow with Putin to try to stop the war in Ukraine but had not received a reply.
(With agency inputs)
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
Contact lost with troops amid ‘heavy fighting’ at Ukraine’s Azovstal: mayor
The mayor of the destroyed Ukrainian city of Mariupol said Wednesday that contact was lost with Ukrainian forces holed up in the Azovstal steel plant amid fierce battles with Russian troops. The Ukrainian military said Tuesday that Russian forces had launched an offensive to rout troops inside Azovstal shortly after the United Nations and Red Cross confirmed that more than 100 civilians had been evacuated from the plant.
-
China scrambles to control Beijing Covid outbreak, restricts people’s movements
Beijing residents woke up on Wednesday to an early morning announcement that dozens of subway stations and bus routes were shut as city authorities scrambled to restrict people’s movements as part of efforts to stamp out an ongoing Covid-19 outbreak. Dine-in services at restaurants and hotels will remain indefinitely suspended, the government announced. Beijing still has hidden infection risks at the community level, a government official had said on Tuesday.
-
Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi’s plea against 5-yr jail term rejected by junta court
An appeal by ousted Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi against a five-year sentence for corruption was rejected by the country’s junta court on Wednesday. An AFP report, citing sources said the appeal filed by Suu Kyi legal team against the junta ruling “was summarily dismissed”. Suu Kyi was found guilty of accepting a bribe of cash and gold a week ago.
-
Sri Lanka foreign reserves dip below $50 million, minister waves red flag
Sri Lanka on Wednesday hailed India’s support during its talks with the International Monetary Fund regarding a bailout to help the island nation through the worst economic crisis in living memory. His Indian counterpart, Nirmala Sitharaman last month said India would ‘try to extend all possible cooperation’ to Sri Lanka to help it emerge from this crisis. Sri Lanka today also sought fertilisers, as well as deferral of a $2.5 billion to the Asian Clearing Union.
-
Sri Lanka seeks fertilisers from India, deferral of payment of $2.5 billion
New Delhi: Sri Lanka has sought the supply of fertilisers from India and the deferral of a payment of $2.5 billion to the Asian Clearing Union as part of efforts to cope with the island nation’s worst economic crisis in decades, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. It is in this context that the Sri Lankan side has made the request for the supply of fertilisers, the people said.