Russian troops take 'control' in part of key city as oil embargo agreed

EU leaders back a ban on most Russian oil imports, after a compromise deal with Hungary to punish Moscow for the war in Ukraine."It's important to show that we are able to be strong ... that we are able to be tough in order to defend our values, to defend our interests," says President of the European Council Charles Michel.

Russian forces have taken partial control of a key industrial city in eastern Ukraine, a regional governor said Tuesday, hours after European Union leaders struck a deal to ban more than two-thirds of Moscow's oil imports.

Severodonetsk is one of several urban hubs that lie on Russia's path to capturing the Donbas's Lugansk region, where Moscow has shifted the bulk of its firepower since failing to capture Kyiv in the war's early stages.

But as Russian troops edged closer to the Severodonetsk city centre, officials in Brussels were tightening the economic screws on Moscow.

"Maximum pressure on Russia to end the war," he said. 

The agreement also includes plans for the EU to send nine billion euros ($9.7 billion) in "immediate liquidity" to Kyiv, Michel announced.

"I believe that Europe will have to give up Russian oil and oil products in any case, because this is about the independence of Europeans themselves from (weaponised) Russian energy," he said in his daily address to the nation.

"Gazprom has completely stopped gas supplies to (Dutch Energy Firm) GasTerra due to non-payment in rubles," the Russian gas giant said in a morning statement.

As Europe announced its new sanctions on Moscow, Washington was taking a cautious line regarding weaponry for Ukraine.

But US President Joe Biden said he would not send long-range rocket systems that could hit Russian territory, despite urgent requests from Kyiv for exactly that.

His comments came as new US ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink -- filling a position vacant since 2019 -- and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna both arrived in Kyiv. 

The highest-ranking French official to visit the capital since Russia's invasion began February 24, Colonna also visited Bucha, near Kyiv, where Russian troops have been accused of committing war crimes against civilians.

Her visit came as a French journalist was killed while working in Ukraine.

- Oil sanctions -

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said the ban "will effectively cut around 90 percent of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year".

Russia's Gazprom, meanwhile, turned off the tap to the Netherlands on Tuesday, halting gas shipments after Dutch energy firm GasTerra ignored a demand that gas supplied from April 1 be paid for in rubles.

The cutoff means that two billion cubic metres of gas will not be supplied to the Netherlands between now and October, GasTerra said, adding it had purchased gas elsewhere in anticipation of the move.

Russia has previously halted deliveries to Finland, Bulgaria and Poland, a move blasted by the EU as "blackmail".

With Russia facing the oil import ban, a Georgian breakaway region delivered another blow to Moscow's hopes for further unity among local allies, with the leader of South Ossetia scrapping a planned July referendum on joining Russia.

Since failing to capture Kyiv in the war's early stages, Russia's army has narrowed its focus, hammering Donbas cities with relentless artillery and missile barrages.

"I repeat once again that there are no safe places in the Donetsk region, so I call again: evacuate -- save your lives," he said. 

On Monday, Ukraine's southern command centre said they had driven Russian troops from the village of Mykolayivka.

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