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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called for the “most severe” sanctions to be imposed on Russia after a meeting with UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in Poland.
Russian forces have been accused of atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, where a mass grave was discovered.
“Half measures are not enough any more. I demand from our partners, on behalf of the victims of Bucha and the people of Ukraine, to take the most severe sanctions against Russia this week,” he said.
“It is time to put all hesitation, reluctance, business-wise arguments aside and think about human suffering and the need to stop the Russian war machine until it kills and destroys more on its way.”
Ms Truss said Russia must now be hit with the “maximum level” of sanctions over the atrocities in Ukraine as she out pressure on European allies to go further.
On Monday, she said more weapons of the type Kyiv has called for should be supplied to Ukraine.
She was also critical that western money has been flowing into Russian President’s Vladimir Putin’s war effort.
Ms Truss said there was evidence of rape and the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Bucha during Russia's occupation of the town.
Speaking in Warsaw, she said she spoke to Mr Kuleba about how the UK could take the “maximum approach” to supplying weapons to Ukraine.
“The idea that we should wait for something else bad to happen is just completely wrong. The worst has already happened, we’ve already seen appalling atrocities committed in Ukraine with complete impunity,” she said.
“That is why we want to go to the maximum level of sanctions with our allies and partners and that is why we are pulling the stops out in terms of supplying Ukraine with the support they need to end this appalling war.”
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In the courtyard of their house, Vlad Tanyuk, 6, stands near the grave of his mother Ira Tanyuk, who died because of starvation and stress due to the war, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
A Ukrainian soldier walks with children passing destroyed cars due to the war against Russia, in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy surveys the destruction in Bucha. AFP -
Residential buildings damaged during fighting in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters -
A bridge damaged by shelling in Bucha. EPA -
A soldier stationed in Bucha, after the city was the recaptured by the Ukrainian army. EPA -
Chervona Voloshin kisses Varvara Statenova goodbye as she heads home to Kyiv after being housed at a shelter for displaced people in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty Images -
Parts of a destroyed aircraft at the Antonov airport in Hostomel, outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
A Ukrainian territorial defence serviceman walks past a destroyed Russian armoured personnel carrier in the town of Borodianka, north-west of Kyiv. AFP -
Tanya Nedashkivska recounts how her husband Vasyl Ivanovych, who served in Ukraine’s navy, was killed by Russian soldiers, in Bucha, Ukraine. He was arrested by Russian soldiers. Tanya looked for him for days and found him in a building's basement where two bodies were lying. She recognised him by his shoes and trousers. AP -
Damaged residential buildings in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters -
Families arrive to board a train at Kramatorsk central station as they flee the eastern city, in the Donbas region. AFP -
Romanian politicians listen to President Zelenskyy’s speech by video link, on a screen in the parliament in Bucharest. AP -
The remains of a Russian Su-35 aircraft that was hit by the Ukrainian armed forces in Kharkiv. Reuters -
A damaged monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko in the besieged city of Mariupol, southern Ukraine. Reuters -
A man removes a door covering the opening to an underground concrete enclosure in which bodies of civilians killed by Russian forces, residents say, were dumped as people were unable to transport them to a cemetery in Bucha, Ukraine. AP -
A Ukrainian soldier tries to convince a puppy to drink milk as residents wait for distribution of food products in Motyzhyn, Ukraine, which was until recently under the control of the Russian military. AP -
The pain of war is evident as women wait for food aid in the village of Motyzhyn. AP -
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears on screen during the 64th Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. AFP -
The gutted interior of a theatre in central Mariupol, destroyed in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict. Reuters -
Desolation in Mariupol which has suffered intense bombardment. Reuters -
A Ukrainian soldier walks in front of the remains of an Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane, the world's biggest aircraft, destroyed by Russian troops at an airfield in the city of Hostomel, in the Kyiv region. Reuters -
A local woman salutes Ukrainian soldiers in the Chernihiv region. Reuters -
A woman hugs a Ukrainian soldier after a convoy of military and aid vehicles arrived in the formerly Russian-occupied town of Bucha, near Kyiv. AP -
Smoke rises after an attack by Russian forces in Odesa. AFP -
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presents an award to an injured Ukrainian service member at a military hospital in Kyiv. Reuters -
A destroyed building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. AFP -
People, mainly women and children, pass through the Medyka border crossing on their journey out of Ukraine and into Poland. Getty
Ms Truss urged allies to commit to “a tough new wave of sanctions” before meetings of G7 and Nato foreign ministers this week in Brussels.
“The reality is that money is still flowing from the West into Putin’s war machine – and that has to stop,” she said.
She will work with allies to ban Russian ships from western ports and crack down on Russian banks, she said.
She said she planned to go after industries “filling Putin’s war chest, like gold” and to agree to “a clear timetable to eliminate our imports of Russian oil, gas and gold”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for fighter jets and tanks to help repel Russian forces, but the plea has met some resistance from Nato allies wary of provoking a wider conflict.
“The fact is that being tough is the only approach that will work,” Ms Truss said.
"Putin has escalated this war and this approach is vital to ensuring he loses in Ukraine and that we see a full withdrawal of Russian troops and Ukraine’s hand is strengthened at the negotiating table.”
She has called for Russia to be suspended from the UN Human Rights Council and pledged a £10 million ($13m) civil society fund for Ukraine, including support for organisations dealing with sexual violence.
Also on Monday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the discovery of mass graves in areas around Kyiv once occupied by Russian forces as “sickening” and promised that “we will not rest until justice is done”.
“The UK will not stand by while this indiscriminate and unforgivable slaughter takes place,” he said.
Mr Johnson, who spoke to Mr Zelenskyy at the weekend, used a video posted on social media to show his support for the country’s efforts to resist the invasion.
“All the tanks and guns in Vladimir Putin’s arsenal will never break the spirit of Ukraine’s people or conquer their homeland,” Mr Johnson said.
He highlighted the Nlaw and Javelin anti-tank systems and Starstreak anti-air missiles that the UK has supplied to Ukraine, as well as helmets and body armour.
But in his talks with Mr Zelenskyy on Saturday, Mr Johnson indicated that the UK would offer further help.
Mr Zelenskyy said there would be a package of “very, very tangible support”, while the UK said Mr Johnson “committed to continue to step up defensive support”.
The UK would not be drawn on exactly what would be provided.
