JAKARTA - Germany said on Sunday Western countries would agree to impose more sanctions on Russia in the coming days, after Ukraine accused Russian troops of war crimes near Kyiv, increasing already heavy economic pressure on Russia over its invasion.
Russia's economy is facing its most severe crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, after the United States and its allies imposed crippling sanctions over Putin's February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Russia on Sunday denied its forces were responsible for the civilian deaths in the city of Bucha, saying Ukraine had staged a "show" for Western media.
Reuters saw bodies strewn across the city. One of them appeared to have his hands tied with a white cloth, and had been shot in the mouth. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of genocide.
This condition makes Western countries warn of more sanctions against the Red Bear Country.
"Putin and his supporters will feel the consequences" of their actions, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement to reporters.
Meanwhile, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said the European Union should talk about ending Russian gas imports. However, Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has so far resisted calls to impose an embargo on energy imports from Russia, saying its economy and other European countries are too dependent on them. It is known that Russia supplies 40 percent of Europe's gas needs.
Separately, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said events in Bucha "released a wave of anger that will lead to new sanctions" and did not rule out "that in the next few hours there may be a debate on the issue of hydrocarbon imports from Russia," he told on a program on Italy's Rai 3 channel, added Italy will not veto the fifth package of sanctions.
As for the United States saying those responsible for every war crime must be held accountable, Britain said it was increasing sanctions and France condemned the "massive abuses" by Russian troops in Ukraine.
The Kremlin says Western sanctions, the most burdensome in modern history, amount to a declaration of economic war. Moscow will now look east for partners like China and India.
Largely cut off from Western economies, Russia is facing its biggest economic contraction in decades, while prices are rising. President Putin said the West understood nothing about Russia if it thought Russia would give in to sanctions.
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Meanwhile, cutting off Russian gas, or more of Russia's natural resources, would wipe out growth in Europe's largest economy, send energy prices to record levels, and propel an inflation shockwave through the global economy.
Russia, which has supplied gas to Europe since the 1970s, will lose hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign currency earnings. This is likely to strengthen its response to the West's "economic wars".
"The world is much bigger than Europe and in fact, Russia is much bigger than Europe. So sooner or later we will have a dialogue no matter what the people on the other side of the ocean want," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television Channel One.
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