Ukraine war: Moscow exploring options to deal with EU's oil ban, new sanctions
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, when asked about EU's proposed phased oil embargo, said “We are looing into different options.”
Russia on Wednesday said it was considering various options to deal with a proposed oil embargo by the European Union (EU).
The EU's chief executive earlier in the day proposed a phased oil embargo on Russia, besides sanctions on its top bank and a ban on Russian broadcasters from European airwaves in part of its toughest measures yet to punish Moscow over its military onslaught in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We are looing into different options.”
Read here for live updates on the war
Peskov further said Russia was not storming the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, after Ukraine accused Moscow of launching a "powerful" assault on the industrial zone where Kyiv's forces were holed up.
"The order was publicly given by the supreme commander-in-chief to cancel the assault," Peskov told reporters, referring to an order given by President Vladimir Putin last month not to pursue an attack on the area. "There is no storming," Peskov said.
The Kremlin also dismissed speculation that Putin planned to declare a war against its pro-West neighbour and declare a national mobilisation on May 9 when Russia would commemorate the Soviet Union's victory in World War Two.
"There is no chance of that. It's nonsense," Peskov said.
Putin will deliver a speech on May 9 and oversee a military parade on Moscow's Red Square.
Further, the Kremlin said no agreement had been reached on a possible meeting between Putin and Pope Francis for talks on the Ukraine war.
Pope Francis said in a recent interview he had asked for a meeting in Moscow with Putin to try to stop the war in Ukraine but had not received a reply.
(With agency inputs)