Biden says Putin should be tried for war crimes, slapped with more sanctions; Russia accused of civilian massacre in Bucha – CNBC

Tue, Apr 5 20221:54 AM EDT

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on a phone call state media said was made at Ukraine's request.

This is the first reported high-level conversation between the countries since March 1, when Kuleba asked Beijing to use its ties with Moscow to stop Russia's invasion, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said at the time.

Wang repeated China's message that peace and stability should be achieved through negotiation, according to state media.

Kuleba tweeted: "Grateful to my Chinese counterpart for solidarity with civilian victims."

"We both share the conviction that ending the war against Ukraine serves common interests of peace, global food security, and international trade," he added.

Chelsea Ong

Mon, Apr 4 20228:26 PM EDT

A man stands next to graves with bodies of civilians, who according to local residents were killed by Russian soldiers, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 4, 2022.

Vladyslav Musiienko | Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address the UN Security Council on Tuesday after visiting Bucha, according to a tweet from the UK UN.

"The UK Presidency of the Council will ensure the truth is heard about Russia's war crimes. We will expose Putin's war for what it really is," the account tweeted.

Zelenskyy has accused Russian forces of committing genocide, and said Ukrainians were being "destroyed and exterminated." His comments came in the wake of the reported devastation in Bucha, a town 23 miles northwest of Kyiv that has been liberated by Ukrainian forces.

Riya Bhattacharjee

Mon, Apr 4 20226:34 PM EDT

A worker walks past oil barrels at a filling station in Chennai on February 24, 2022.

Arun Sankar | AFP | Getty Images

Oil prices jumped over 3% with investors worried about tighter supply as mounting civilian deaths in Ukraine increased pressure on European countries to impose sanctions on Russia's energy sector.

Global benchmark Brent crude jumped $3.14, or 3%, to settle at $107.53 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $4.01, or 4%, to settle at $103.28 a barrel. Trading was volatile with both contracts rising after being down more than $1.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russian President Vladimir Putin and his supporters would "feel the consequences" of events in Bucha, outside the capital Kyiv, where a mass grave and tied bodies shot at close range were found.

Western allies would agree on further sanctions against Moscow in coming days, he said, though the timing and reach of the new package was not clear. France's President Emmanuel Macron suggested sanctions on oil and coal, adding there were very "clear clues pointing to war crimes" by Russian forces.

Reuters

Mon, Apr 4 20225:32 PM EDT

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to a local resident, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Bucha, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine April 4, 2022.

Ukrainian Presidential Press Service | Reuters

Editor's Note: Graphic content. The following post contains images of dead bodies found in the suburban Kyiv town of Bucha.

The Kremlin faced renewed global outrage and accusations of war crimes on the heels of a grisly discovery of civilians tortured and shot at close range in the streets of Bucha, Ukraine.

SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB A body with hands bound by white cloth, who according to residents was shot by Russian soldiers, lies in the street, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine, in Bucha, Ukraine April 3, 2022.

Zohra Bensemra | Reuters

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content: Dead bodies lie on a street in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, on April 2, 2022, as Ukraine says Russian forces are making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv.

Ronaldo Schemidt | AFP | Getty Images

Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled from Kyiv to the nearby town of Bucha to see the aftermath of a Russian troop pullout which he later described as a "genocide." Bodies of civilians lay scattered across the streets, some with their hands tied and gunshot wounds to the back of the head.

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content: Communal workers carry a civilian in a body bag after he was killed during Russian army shelling in the town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on April 3, 2022.

Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Image depicts death) The body of a man lays inside a car ran over by a Russian tank in Bucha district on the outskirts of Kyiv, after the Ukrainian army secured the area following the withdrawal of the Russian army from the Kyiv region on previous days, Bucha, Ukraine on April 03, 2022. (Photo by Narciso Contreras/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Narciso Contreras | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

U.S. National security advisor Jake Sullivan called the images from Bucha "tragic" and "shocking."

"Unfortunately, they're not surprising. We released information even before Russia's invasion showing that Russia would engage in acts of brutality against civilians," Sullivan told reporters at the White House. Biden's top security advisor said the U.S. was working on additional sanctions measures alongside European allies.

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content A dead body lies on the ground in a street in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, as Ukraine says Russian forces are making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv, on April 2, 2022.

Ronaldo Schemidt | AFP | Getty Images

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content A man walks on a street with several dead bodies on the ground a street in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, as Ukraine says Russian forces are making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv, on April 2, 2022.

Ronaldo Schemidt | AFP | Getty Images

Earlier on Monday, President Joe Biden called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" whoshould be put on trialfor ordering violence in Ukraine.

"This guy is brutal, and what's happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone's seen it," Biden told reporters gathered at Fort McNair, adding, "I think it is a war crime ... He should be held accountable."

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Image depicts death) Civilians' bodies, which were found dead in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, were gathered to be buried on Monday, on April 4, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine.

Metkin Atkis| Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Bodies of civilians are seen in a mass grave in the town of Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, after the Ukrainian army secured the area following the withdrawal of the Russian army from the Kyiv region on previous days, Bucha, Ukraine on April 03, 2022.

Narciso Contreras | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Since the Kremlin's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations has confirmed 1,430 civilian deaths and 2,097 injuries. The war has also displacedmore than 4.2 million Ukrainians, mostly the elderly, women and children.

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic Content: A communal worker standing inside a van loaded with body bags, waits for another body to be wrapped and collected by a colleague following Russian shelling of the town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on April 3, 2022.

Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images

Volunteers unload from a van bags containing bodies of civilians, who according to residents were killed by Russian army soldiers, after they collected them from the streets to gather them at a cemetery before they take them to the morgue, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 4, 2022.

Zohra Bensemra | Reuters

Amanda Macias and Adam Jeffery

Mon, Apr 4 20224:33 PM EDT

A man walks in the rubble of a destroyed building in the eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv on april 2, 2022, as Ukraine said today Russian forces were making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around the capital Kyiv and the city of Chernihiv.

Fadel Senna | AFP | Getty Images

National security advisor Jake Sullivan warned that Russian forces are currently gearing up for a more aggressive fight in Ukraine after nearly six weeks of war.

"At this juncture, we believe that Russia is revising its war aims. Russia is repositioning its forces to concentrate its offensive operations in eastern and parts of southern Ukraine, rather than target most of the territory," Sullivan told reporters, citing failed Russian attempts to capture Kyiv.

"All indications are that Russia will seek to surround and overwhelm Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine. We anticipate that Russian commanders are now executing the redeployment from northern Ukraine to the region around the Donbas," Sullivan added.

He added that Russia's renewed ground offensive in eastern Ukraine will likely also "include air and missile strikes across the rest of the country to cause military and economic damage, and frankly, to cause terror."

Amanda Macias

Mon, Apr 4 20223:45 PM EDT

A national flags of Ukraine an EU flags outside the Town Hall in Lille, France, on Wednesday, March 16, 2022.

Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images

France and Germany said they were expelling several Russian personnel serving under the cover of diplomatic status, citing security concerns.

"France decided this evening to expel many Russian personnel with diplomatic status assigned to France whose activities are contrary to our security interests," the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"This action is part of a European approach. Our first responsibility is always to ensure the safety of French and Europeans," the statement added.

Berlin also barred several Russian personnel from continuing their work within Germany.

"Their work is a threat to those who seek shelter with us. We will no longer tolerate this," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement.

Last week, in a coordinated move, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic expelled a total of 43 Russian diplomats suspected of spying. The action followed similar steps taken by Poland.

Amanda Macias

Mon, Apr 4 20228:40 PM EDT

U.S. officials accused Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg of bank fraud and money laundering as his yacht was seized in Spain.

The seizure of the $90 million mega yacht followed a move by the U.S. and its allies to sanction Vekselberg in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

An FBI search warrant alleged Vekselberg conspired to commit bank fraud and money laundering to obscure his ownership of the yacht.

A spokesperson for Vekselberg did not respond to a request to comment.

Brian Schwartz

Mon, Apr 4 202212:56 PM EDT

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss at a G7 meeting in the Museum of Liverpool.

Christopher Furlong | Getty Images

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called for tougher sanctions against Russia during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Warsaw.

Since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the UK has delivered its strongest sanctions ever levied on a country.

"The reality is that money is still flowing from the West into Putin's war machine and that has to stop," Truss said, adding that she would raise this issue with G-7 and NATO allies this week.

Truss also joined the U.S. in calling for Russia's suspension from the United Nations Human Rights Council. Her demand came on the heels of alarming reports of attacks on civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha outside Kyiv.

"After these appalling crimes, Russia has no place on the Human Rights Council," she said, adding that the UK is currently gathering evidence of war crimes in Ukraine.

Amanda Macias

Mon, Apr 4 202212:28 PM EDT

Editor's Note: Graphic content. The following post contains a photo of dead bodies found in the suburban Kyiv town of Bucha.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Image depicts death) A partially buried body is seen in a mass grave in the town of Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, after the Ukrainian army secured the area following the withdrawal of the Russian army from the Kyiv region on previous days, Bucha, Ukraine on April 03, 2022.

Narciso Contreras | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The U.S. military could not independently confirm reports of mounting evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

A senior U.S. Defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the Pentagon's thinking, described the reports of atrocities in Bucha, a town in the suburbs of Kyiv, as "clearly deeply troubling."

The official, who was aware of the accounts out of Bucha, described the imagery as "disgusting" and "sickening." The official added that the U.S. had no evidence that Russian troops were given specific orders to kill civilians in Bucha.

Earlier on Monday, President Joe Biden called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" who should be put on trial for ordering violence in Ukraine.

"This guy is brutal, and what's happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone's seen it," Biden told reporters gathered at Fort McNair, adding, "I think it is a war crime ... He should be held accountable."

Amanda Macias

Mon, Apr 4 202212:06 PM EDT

A Ukrainian policeman walks past the wreckage of a Russian armoured vehicle in Dmytrivka village, west of Kyiv, on April 2, 2022 as Ukraine says Russian forces are making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv.

Genya Savilov | Afp | Getty Images

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Biden says Putin should be tried for war crimes, slapped with more sanctions; Russia accused of civilian massacre in Bucha - CNBC