In his address to the Irish Parliament, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on lawmakers to urge EU partners to take tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation.
He stresses that Russia has not yet abandoned its plans to conquer the Ukrainian people and continues offensive operations in Ukraine.
– I urge you to show even greater leadership in our anti-war coalition! I urge you to convince EU partners of the need for tougher sanctions against Russia. To such sanctions, that will really stop Russia’s military machine.
We need to stop all trade with Russia. Russian banks’ connections with the world’s financial system must be blocked. It is necessary to cut off the flow of money that the Russian budget receives for oil and spends it on missiles, bombs and artillery shelling, – Zelenskyy said.
The head of state notes that the world has long had appropriate mechanisms, but the only obstacle is the lack of integrity of some leaders, “who still think that war and war crimes are not as terrible as financial losses”.
– Now, when there are discussions about sanctions against the Russian Federation, I just can not hear any doubts, I can not see any indecision… Even now, when the world already knows everything about Russia’s war crimes against our people, we have to convince even some European companies to leave the Russian market.
We still have to convince Western politicians in some countries to stop any connection between Russian banks and the global financial system, and to convince Europe that Russian oil cannot provide the Russian military machine with a generous flow of money.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed confidence that, through joint efforts, Europe would be able to stop the terrible war and restore peace and stability in Eastern Europe. He stresses that the longer the Russian aggression lasts, the worse the consequences will be not only for our continent, but also for the neighboring regions of our planet.