Russians inch close to key eastern city in Ukraine

By Our Special Correspondent

The regional governor said Tuesday that Russian forces now control "the most" in the key city of eastern Ukraine, Severodonetsk, but split over a gas ban after EU leaders agreed to ban too much oil from Moscow.

Ukraine continues to investigate war crimes after the Russian invasion. Authorities say thousands have been killed in the eastern Donbass region alone and two Russian soldiers have been jailed elsewhere in the country.

But the EU is divided over the issue of gas supplies and leaders have reduced the chances of a speedy ban to follow sanctions on two-thirds of oil imports from Russia. Europe relies on Russian gas for about 40 percent of its supply, and the embargo exacerbates existing suffering from the energy and inflation crisis.

European Commission Chief Ursula van der Leyen has indicated that Brussels has a long way to go against Russia's fossil fuels and that it is time to focus more on the "financial and economic sector". The oil embargo "will effectively reduce oil imports from Russia to the EU by 90 percent by the end of the year," she said.

These are a key part of the $ 700 million package unveiled on Wednesday, which includes air surveillance radar, more javelin short-range anti-tank rockets and artillery, helicopter, vehicles 80 kilometers away, allowing Ukrainian forces to further attack behind Russian lines.

Biden says the United States does not support attacks inside Russia that are being written about in New York. We do not want a war between NATO and Russia. Later, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken sadly promised that Ukraine would not use new missiles in Russia and warned of a protracted conflict.

The best we can predict right now, we still see months of conflict, he told a news conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.