West eyes more pressure on Russia after Ukraine nuclear plant attack

Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels at NATO and the European Union said they were weighing more sanctions to keep up the pressure after hitting Moscow with a wave of economic punishment over its invasion.

Western allies condemned Russia on Friday over the shelling of a nuclear plant in Ukraine, but pushed back against calls for a no-fly zone from Kyiv to halt the bombing of Moscow.

Foreign ministers at NATO and the European Union meeting in Brussels said they were weighing more sanctions to keep pressure on Moscow with a wave of economic penalties on its invasion.

The NATO chief said, "Overnight we have also seen reports about attacks against a nuclear power plant. This is just the carelessness of this war and the importance of ending it and Russia's withdrawal of all its troops and good diplomatic efforts." shows the importance of incorporating faith." Jens Stoltenberg said.

"NATO is not part of the conflict. NATO is a defensive alliance, we do not want war or conflict with Russia."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the allies "strongly condemned" the attack and called on Russia to stop its "aggression".

Fears about Europe's largest nuclear plant added new urgency to a string of meetings scheduled to demonstrate the unity of the West in an attempt to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin.

NATO members have sent thousands of troops to Eastern Europe to bolster Russia's closest alliance and are sending weapons to Ukraine to help defend itself.

NATO has denied military intervention with Moscow over fears of involvement in a direct conflict that could spiral into a nuclear war.

This includes turning down Ukrainian calls for a no-fly zone on his country to prevent bombings by Kremlin forces so far.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavski said "NATO should not be dragged into this conflict."

"The no-fly zone means that NATO is in a conflict because it will be the NATO forces that will enforce this no-fly zone."

Canada's top diplomat Melanie Jolie said: "We know that our red line is to make sure there is no international conflict."

"At the same time, I would say that we want to make sure that the scenarios are being discussed, and we also want to make sure that throughout the Coalition, and in all the countries that support Ukraine, that we can discuss , because we need to stop this war," she said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for more sanctions from the West in the wake of the attack on the nuclear plant, as allies are still taking stock of the economic damage inflicted on Moscow.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said: "Everything remains on the table."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock insisted that more sanctions would be put in place along the way.

"Beyond the three serious packages of (EU) sanctions that we have already decided on, we will take further measures that target Putin's center of power," she said.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkeviks said the time had come to target Russia's key oil and gas exports, despite the reluctance of major EU economies to affect vital energy supplies.

"I understand how difficult this will be for all of us, but then... make a choice," Rinkewicz said.

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