Barrot made the ⁠comments upon his arrival at ​a EU foreign minister meeting ​in Brussels.

The EU would also impose sanctions on Monday ​on a number of rumored ⁠Kremlin propagandists, most notably the Franco-Russian Adrien Bocquet, whom Barrot ​has characterized as “a key recruiter ​of ⁠foreign fighters in Ukraine, responsible for glorifying war crimes, and also ⁠responsible ​for disinformation campaigns in ​Europe and Africa.”

Kyiv has reported that more than 1,400 civilians were killed in Bucha, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital, during a 33-day occupation by Russian forces at ‌the ⁠beginning of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Moscow has referred to the allegations as a “hoax”, denying any responsibility and accusing Ukrainian authorities of faking footage of the civilian killings.