But European diplomats were unconvinced that Berlin would drop its opposition to an outright embargo on the import of Russian gas and oil in the light of the attacks in Bucha.
A source told The Telegraph: “We will shrug it off and go back to the comforts of our houses to put the temperature up another notch against the harsh weather outside. I’m under no illusion that we will probably continue our supine reaction that allowed Putin to get this far.”
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, one of Poland’s deputy premiers, accused Berlin and Paris of being too close to Moscow in the lead-up to the invasion.
He said: “Germany, like France, has a strong bias in Moscow’s favour. The German government did not want to see what Russia was doing under Putin – and we see the result today.”
‘Indifference is the mother of all crimes’
With pressure mounting on the EU to ban Russian gas imports, Lithuania became the bloc’s first country to end its consumption, according to Ingrida Simonyte, its prime minister.
Kaja Kallas, the Estonian premier, said a fifth round of economic sanctions against Moscow must come “as soon as possible”, adding: “We need courage, moral clarity and more action to stop it. Indifference is the mother of all crimes.”
Liz Truss, the British Foreign Secretary, also vowed not to rest until “those responsible for atrocities, including military commanders and individuals in the Putin regime, have faced justice”.
