Zelenskyy says partners should tighten sanctions if Putin does not come to Turkey
Ukraine's partners should impose new sanctions against Russia if Russian dictator Vladimir Putin does not come to Turkey for talks on May 15, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes. He expressed this opinion at a briefing.
The Head of State said that if the meeting in Istanbul with Putin's participation does not take place, it will mean no result in the peace process. He reminded that Ukraine had agreed to all proposals made by certain parties, including the United States and European states.
"Ukraine has demonstrated absolute constructivism. It demonstrated that it is clear, understandable and wants the war to end. I believe that Putin's non-arrival and the games again are the final point of his demonstration that they are not ready to end the war. This means that all the promises, sober and clear promises of the United States, Europe, and leaders of other countries must be fulfilled," Zelensky said.
He clarified that otherwise Russia cannot be forced to take steps, to this or that format of de-escalation.
"So there will be sanctions. I can only expect at least a strong package of sanctions from the US against Russia. And these sanctions are not for aggression, occupation, etc. That is, there are already a million compromises. Sanctions for the fact that they don't even want a ceasefire," the president said.
According to him, this should be the strongest package of sanctions, because it is "the will to end the war or not".
"A strong package of the United States, a strong package of Europe. We will be very, very grateful," the head of state summarized.
- on April 26, after a conversation with Zelensky, Trump threatened the Russian dictator with new banking and secondary sanctions, criticizing Russia's latest strikes in Ukraine. The US president began to suspect that Putin does not want to end the war and is deceiving him.
- It was not the first time that the US president threatened Putin with sanctions or duties, but he has not yet imposed new restrictions on Russia, although he did extend those imposed by his predecessors.
- On April 27, Rubio explained that the United States is not imposing new sanctions against Russia because it "doesn't want to get to that point" and "it's not the right time" for them. According to the United States,, imposing sanctions would mean its withdrawal from the negotiations.
- On May 1, Graham said that the bill on new US sanctions against Russia is supported by more than 70 senators.
