photo: President’s office
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President Volodymyr Zelenskyi warned Western countries against a passive policy of imposing sanctions on Russia, emphasizing that Russia’s further aggression against Ukraine depends on strengthening sanctions. He stated this in his video address.
«There are now many hints and warnings that sanctions, such as an embargo on Russian oil supplies to Europe, will only be tightened if Russia uses chemical weapons. There are simply no words. Just think about what happened: to wait for chemical weapons. We, living people, have to wait. Doesn’t everything that the Russian military is doing before and already done deserves an oil embargo? Don’t phosphorus bombs deserve it? Do not the shelled chemical plants or the nuclear power plant deserve it?» – Zelenskyi said.
He stressed that Ukraine cannot and will not agree with the passive sanctions policy of some entities towards Russia. There should be no «suspended» sanctions packages, when the answer will be only if the aggressor does something. According to the head of state, we have already gone through a similar story last year, when there were no preventive sanctions against Russia that could lead to an invasion. Today, we have a full-scale war.
Zelenskyi stressed that sanctions must be effective so that Russians «cannot think that they can afford to continue what they are doing now.»
«Already this week, we are creating a group of experts at the President’s Office – Ukrainian and international, who will constantly analyze the sanctions against Russia, what they really affect. Our goal is for the sanctions to work as intended so that there is no way to circumvent them,» – the president said.
Earlier, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Russia’s use of chemical weapons against Ukraine could lead to NATO intervention. In particular, he noted that Putin may use it because of the difficult situation in the so-called «special operation».
US President Joe Biden later said they would respond if Putin used weapons of mass destruction against Ukraine. However, the answer will depend on the situation.
Translated by Vitalii Holich
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