Emmanuel Macron declared himself on Monday “in favor” of the European Union deciding on new sanctions vis-à-vis Russia, citing oil and coal, after the discovery of hundreds of civilian bodies in the region. of Kyiv, particularly in Boutcha.
“What happened in Boutcha imposes a new set of sanctions and very clear measures,” the French president told France Inter. “So we will coordinate with our European partners, especially Germany” in “the coming days”, he added, referring to individual sanctions and measures on “coal and oil”.
With “what is happening”, in particular “in Mariupol, we must send the signal that it is our collective dignity and our values that we are defending”, continued Emmanuel Macron, who was questioned about the Ukraine as president and not as a presidential candidate.
He reaffirmed, as he had done in a tweet on Sunday, to be “extremely shocked” by “the unbearable scenes” in Boutcha, which must be condemned “with the greatest firmness”. “Today there are very clear indications of war crimes” and “it is more or less established that it was the Russian army” which was in this small town where civilians were massacred. “International justice must pass. Those who were at the origin of these crimes will have to answer for it” because “there will be no peace without justice”, according to him.
The total death toll is still uncertain. According to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova, the lifeless bodies of 410 civilians were found in the territories of the Kyiv region recently retaken from Russian troops. Moscow has denied any wrongdoing.