Countries buying Russian oil ‘complicit in war crimes’ says Ukraine adviser
European countries that continue to buy Russian oil and gas, and the London lawyers and bankers who serve Vladimir Putin’s oligarchs, are complicit in war crimes, the Ukrainian president’s top economic adviser has claimed.
In an exclusive interview with the Observer, Oleg Ustenko lashed out at the “unacceptable” failure of major western economies to impose an immediate embargo on imports from Russia.
He also issued a warning to companies that have helped Russia keep selling its oil and gas, the proceeds of which he estimated at $1.4bn a day, saying Kyiv would one day sue commodity traders and insurers involved in dealing with the Putin regime and its industries.
He said Kyiv was monitoring which firms were trading with Russia and vowed that they would face legal action in the future. “If Russians are committing war crimes, even genocide, whoever is supplying Russia with this bloody money is making the same war crime,” said Ustenko.
“We know the name of the ship, the flag, the name of the captain, the volume of oil, we know how much money was paid for that oil, the port of destination, the company who sold the insurance. We are going to work with this information. We have other things to do which are much more urgent now, but we are watching everybody who is doing that.
“Our belief is that if companies are making war crimes, we are going to prosecute and sue all these people. Maybe in a year, maybe in 10 years, but we are going to find these people.”
Ustenko called for much tougher international sanctions on Russia, including the sale of frozen assets such as “football clubs and nice apartments”, with the proceeds going towards Ukraine’s defence and its postwar reconstruction plan.
“People in Europe … believe that they can help
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