Boris Johnson condemns "unconscionable" Kramatorsk attack at press conference with Olaf Scholz Boris Johnson and the German chancellor Olaf Scholz are holding a joint press conference in Downing Street. Johnson accused Russia of war crimes. He said: It is a war crime indiscriminately to attack civilians. Russia’s crimes in Ukraine will not go unnoticed or unpunished. Johnson said the attack on fleeing civilians at the Kramatorsk train station was “unconscionable”, as he suggested Vladimir Putin’s forces were guilty of a war crime. He told a Downing Street press conference: The attack at the train station in eastern Ukraine shows the depth to which Putin’s once vaunted army has sunk. At least 39 people killed and dozens wounded on a train platform crowded with women and children. It is a war crime indiscriminately to attack civilians and Russian crimes in Ukraine will not go unnoticed or unpunished. Evening summary Here’s a roundup of the key developments from the day: The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has defended his wife after revelations that she claims non-domiciled status, meaning she does not legally have to pay tax in the UK on her income earned abroad. Sunak told the Sun: “She loves her country like I love mine,” and said his wife had done nothing wrong in choosing a financial arrangement that legally exempts her from paying tax in Britain on foreign income. Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty had US green cards and were declared “permanent US residents” for tax purposes while Sunak served as chancellor. Sunak and Murty, who own a £5.5m California penthouse holiday home, held green cards while they lived in the US and continued to keep the status when they moved to the UK. The shadow attorney general has said that the chancellor’s wife is “taking advantage” of her decision to claim non-domicile status to avoid paying taxes. Emily Thornberry told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “In the end, we have somebody who’s been living here for eight years, raising her children here, living at … Downing Street in accommodation provided by the taxpayer and aspiring to be the wife of the next prime minister, and yet she says that she isn’t a permanent resident of this country.” Boris Johnson insisted Rishi Sunak had done “absolutely everything” required after it was reported he held a US green card for a period while chancellor. He added: “I think that Rishi is doing an absolutely outstanding job.” Russia may have committed another war crime by targeting civilians fleeing from an eastern Ukraine railway station with precision missiles, the defence secretary has said. Ben Wallace vowed to “do everything” to ensure Vladimir Putin fails in Ukraine. Boris Johnson and Olaf Scholz held talks and a press conference at Downing Street. The prime minister said he was “absolutely thrilled” to be hosting the German chancellor at Downing Street during a “very important” time for Europe, Ukraine and the countries’ bilateral relations. Boris Johnson said the attack on fleeing civilians at the Kramatorsk train station was “unconscionable”, as he suggested Vladimir Putin’s forces were guilty of a war crime. He said: The attack at the train station in eastern Ukraine shows the depth to which Putin’s once vaunted army has sunk.” Boris Johnson welcomed German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s “seismic” attempts to divest from Russian fossil fuels after the pair met in Downing Street. Johnson told a joint No 10 press conference they agreed on the importance of weaning off Russian oil and gas. Priti Patel has apologised for the time it has taken for Ukrainian refugees to arrive in the UK under two visa schemes, after new figures showed just 12,000 have so far reached Britain. Boris Johnson hinted at a disagreement with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, over triggering Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol, which he refused to rule out, despite the war in Ukraine. Boris Johnson has said it would be “irresponsible” to rule out further lockdowns if more deadly coronavirus variants emerge. The prime minister continued to say he could not rule out the prospect of taking drastic action again as the nation feels the impact of the Omicron variant, PA Media reports. The number of Covid-19 infections remains at or near record levels in most of the UK, with only Scotland seeing a drop, new figures from the Office for National Statistics have revealed. The ONS data for the week ending 2 April, based on swabs collected from randomly selected households, shows that, for the second week running, about one in 13 people across the UK are thought to have had Covid – an estimated 4.88 million infections. Outgoing Metropolitan police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick has warned against the “politicisation of policing”, saying it is “a threat not just to policing but to trust in the whole criminal justice system”. She left Scotland Yard this morning and was applauded by officers as she walked out. That’s it from me today. Thanks for joining me. My colleague Jessica Elgot has looked at whether Rishi Sunak has blown his chances of ever becoming the leader of the Conservatives, which you may find interesting. Rishi Sunak admits he still held a US green card while chancellor, but denies wrongdoing Rishi Sunak has admitted holding a US green card while chancellor but said he immediately returned it after seeking guidance upon his first American trip in a government capacity in October 2021, according to a statement from his spokesperson. A spokesperson for the chancellor said: Rishi Sunak had a green card when he lived and worked in the US. Under US law, you are not presumed to be a US resident just by dint of holding a green card. Furthermore, from a US immigration perspective, it is presumed that permanent resident status is automatically abandoned after prolonged absences from the US. At the same time, one is required to file US tax returns. Rishi Sunak followed all guidance and continued to file US tax returns, but specifically as a non-resident, in full compliance with the law. As required under US law and as advised, he continued to use his green card for travel purposes. Upon his first trip to the US in a government capacity as chancellor, he discussed the appropriate course of action with the US authorities. At that point it was considered best to return his green card, which he did immediately. All laws and rules have been followed and full taxes have been paid where required in the duration he held his green card. Boris Johnson hinted at a disagreement with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, over triggering Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol, which he refused to rule out, despite the war in Ukraine. He told a Downing Street press conference: It came up, I think I raised it. It was entirely predictable. The almost seamless harmony that you have observed between Britain and Germany today I would not wish to interrupt by going any further. But what I will say to answer your question, will we take that off the table, the use of Article 16 – no clearly not, there is a problem. But he said the two countries were in agreement on “virtually every other issue” of policy. Boris Johnson has praised the “huge steps” EU countries are already taking to wean themselves off Russian energy. Speaking at a press conference at Downing Street alongside the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, he said: Just bear in mind the huge steps that the EU are already taking and the Germans are already taking to move away from from oil and gas. The dependency has been massive. It’s clearly been something that they’re now moving away from very, very fast. I think by the middle of 2024, as I recall, Germany’s going to stop using Russian gas, which is quite extraordinary. And that is going to be done through technological change and progress and we want to work together with Germany to achieve that. Scholz has said Germany is doing “all we can” to wean itself off Russian energy but that it will take two decades. He told a joint press conference with Johnson that Germany is working on becoming a country that will just use renewables to generate its electricity. He said this will be achieved through offshore and onshore wind, solar and investment into its grid, but he acknowledged it would take “approximately 20 years”. He added: It is absolutely necessary that we understand that for the time being between, it will be important to get the supply from fossil resources from other places than from Russia. We are doing so and working very hard to make this happen. Boris Johnson does not rule out considering arming Ukraine’s resistance against Russian troops with tanks. The prime minister told a Downing Street press conference: I’m in principle willing to consider anything by way of defensive weaponry to help the Ukrainians protect themselves and their people. I think it’s important that we should be giving equipment that is genuinely useful and is operable by Ukrainians, that’s our consideration. The press conference has ended now. Both leaders have left the room. Asked about criticism of Emmanuel Macron, who has continued to have conversations with Vladimir Putin since the invasion of Ukraine began, Boris Johnson said he admired efforts by those continuing diplomatic conversations but was “cynical” and did not trust Putin. The prime minister said he last spoke to the Russian president before the invasion, when Putin said he had no plans to invade Ukraine. He said: Negotiating with Putin does not seem to me to be full of promise … That is not to say that I don’t admire the efforts of those try to find a way through, but for myself I am very sceptical and indeed cynical. Scholz said that criticism of Macron was “unjustified”. He said the French president is “very committed” and “tries to make his contribution”. Scholz said he has told Putin about Russian losses because he may not hear it from his inner circle in the Kremlin. Boris Johnson has dodged a question on Rishi Sunak’s wife’s non-dom status. He said: I would just stress that the chancellor, Rishi, is doing an absolutely outstanding job and, as far as possible, as I think I said yesterday, I don’t think people’s families should be dragged into this. He was later asked another question on the issue and said he did not know about Akshata Murty’s tax status before the news broke. He also denied that No 10 had been briefing against Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, as has been reported. He said he didn’t know where the briefings were coming from, if there have been any. If there are such briefings they’re certainly not coming from us. He added that he thought Sunak was doing a “fantastic job”. Asked if Sunak had his full backing, he replied: “Emphatically yes.” Boris Johnson welcomed German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s “seismic” attempts to divest from Russian fossil fuels after the pair met in Downing Street. Johnson told a joint No 10 press conference they agreed on the importance of weaning off Russian oil and gas. He said: This is not easy for any of us and I applaud the seismic decisions taken by Olaf’s government to move Germany away from Russian hydrocarbons. We cannot transform our respective energy systems overnight but we also know that (Vladimir) Putin’s war will not end overnight. He said they both agreed the need to maximise potential of the North Sea and collaborate on energy security and renewables. Johnson also said the two nations will hold a joint cabinet meeting within the next year. Olaf Scholz said cooperation between Germany and UK will be important as Germany weans itself off Russian fossil fuels. The German chancellor said: We are going to intensify our cooperation on all levels. We want to make progress and intensify relations between our two countries. Asked whether Germany and the EU need to move faster on cutting off Russian oil and gas, Scholz said: We are doing all we can, and we are doing a lot ... We are actively working to get independent from the import of oil and we think we will be able to make it this year. He also said it is “not feasible” to replace gas with other sources immediately because of the need to build new infrastructure to handle it.