World News | Live Updates: Israeli Leader Shocked by Images from Bucha

Jerusalem, Apr 5 (AP) Israel's prime minister on Tuesday said he was shocked by the gruesome images emerging from the Ukrainian town of Bucha, but stopped short of accusing Russia of being responsible or calling the atrocities a war crime.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters that “we are, of course, shocked by the harsh scenes in Bucha. Terrible images, and we strongly condemn them”.

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He said that “the images are extremely horrible. The suffering of the citizens of Ukraine is huge and we are doing everything we can to help”.

With Israel one of the few countries to have good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Bennett has emerged as a mediator in efforts to end the war.

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In order to preserve his relationship with Vladimir Putin, Bennett has been measured in his criticism of the Russian president. Instead, he has allowed Foreign Minister Yair Lapid to voice harsher condemnations.

Bennett referred reporters to the comments on Monday by Lapid, who said the civilian deaths in Bucha constituted a “war crime”.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

— Ukraine's leader to brief top UN body on alleged massacres

— EU proposes Russian coal ban in new sanctions

— Japan's top envoy brings back 20 Ukrainians from Poland

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday said he expected more atrocities to come to light in Ukraine as Russian troops continued to retreat from areas around Kyiv.

Stoltenberg said that “we haven't seen everything that has taken place because Russia still controls most of these territories” around the capital.

“But when and if they withdraw their troops and Ukrainian troops take over, I'm afraid they will see more mass graves, more atrocities and more examples of war crimes.”

Stoltenberg rejected Russian assertions that the atrocities were staged.

He said that “these atrocities have taken place during a period in which Russia controlled these areas. So they are responsible. Second, we have information from many different sources.”

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BRUSSELS — The European Union's executive branch has proposed a ban on coal imports from Russia in what would be the first sanctions targeting the country's lucrative energy industry over its war in Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that the EU needed to increase the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin after what she described as the “heinous crimes” carried out around Kyiv.

Von der Leyen said the ban on coal imports is worth 4 billion euros (USD4.4 billion) per year.

She added that the EU has already started working on additional sanctions, including on oil imports.

Von der Leyen didn't mention natural gas. A consensus among the 27 EU member countries on targeting gas that's used to generate electricity, heat homes and power industry would be more difficult to secure. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)