The European Union should put extra pressure on Russia and send all the weapons that Ukraine needs, Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky during his meeting with European Council President Charles Michel in Kyiv on April 20.
During his visit, Michel traveled to the destroyed Kyiv suburb of Borodyanka, condemning Russia’s atrocities. He is convinced that Russia must be held accountable for war crimes and promised Ukraine to help document the crimes of the invaders to give justice to the deceased.
“We understand that Russia seeks to destroy the Ukrainian people, Ukrainian statehood. And this is a real genocide. We see that Russia does not stop in its bloody desire to destroy Ukrainians and our state at any cost, women, children, our defenseless civilian population,” Zelensky noted during the joint news conference.
He also thanked Europe for ongoing arms supplies: “European partners have made a significant contribution to our military capabilities. I am grateful for the allocation of 1.5 billion euros within the European Peace Fund to finance the military needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
The president is planning on using these funds to purchase weapons that Ukraine urgently needs.
While thanking the EU for the sanctions introduced thus far, Zelensky also emphasized that they are not enough to grind Russia’s war machine to a halt. Accordingly, the sixth package of restrictive must include serious restrictions, such as an oil and gas embargo: “Oil must definitely be included in the sixth package. We believe that without it the package will not be powerful, it will be empty.”
He added that it is likewise important to cut off Russian banks from SWIFT, including Sberbank and Gazprombank, and block all accounts of the Russian state and companies, directing these funds to the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Michel supported increasing pressure on the Russian regime to end the war.
“We will do everything we can for Ukraine to win because we want the victory of Ukraine,” he said.
