Ukrainian president urges world leaders to keep choking Russia’s revenues to impede its war efforts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has singled out Russian President Vladimir Putin as the reason for the continuing war between the two neighbouring countries, urging world leaders to sustain economic pressure on Moscow during his address at the United Nations General Assembly.
“For nearly five years now, Russia’s generals have tried to carry out Putin’s crazy war,” Zelenskyy said, adding that no one openly supported this war “except for one man”.
Zelenskyy said Russia had lost ۲۴۸,۰۰۰ soldiers over the last eight months in Ukraine, managing to capture “a little more than ۱,۰۰۰ square kilometres [۳۸۶ square miles] of our territory this year”.
“Putin spent ۲۴۸ people for every kilometre. Does anyone still think he is smart?” he said, adding that the numbers “are not just statistics. This is about people”.
“We have archived footage of thousands and thousands of Russians losing their lives in kill zones. This is what Putin wants,” he said.
“Something always seems to stop Putin from saying, ‘That’s it. Enough. Peace,’” Zelenskyy said. “Can you even imagine him without war? He is ‘patient zero’, the one from whom war keeps spreading further. ‘Patient zero’ must be stopped,” he said.
Zelenskyy said he expects Russia to intensify its bombing campaign on the country in the coming months and that Ukrainians are prepared for a harsh winter.
“Ukrainians understand that this winter could be very harsh for us, but in response we will have no choice but to make it harsh for Russia too,” he said.
This month, Ukraine launched its deepest-ever attack into Russia, targeting two Arctic gas condensate facilities more than ۳,۰۰۰km (۱,۸۶۵ miles) from its border. Another attack on Sunday forced a Moscow oil refinery to halt crude processing.
Russia also slammed jet-powered drones into two petrol stations and other sites in Kyiv, killing one and injuring at least seven people on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has been pushing for an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine, blaming the war between the two as one reason behind skyrocketing fuel prices.
Zelenskyy called for sustained economic pressure, saying the money Russia earned through trade “gives this war more time”.
“And that is exactly why we insist on limiting trade with the aggressor, and why we are burning Russia’s revenues ourselves,” he said.
Last week, Trump signed into law a sweeping sanctions package targeting Russia over its war in Ukraine, days after US Congress sent the bill to the White House with rare bipartisan support.
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy also claimed that nationals of ۴۷ countries are fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine, mentioning the two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region last year, who were sent to South Korea by Kyiv.
“Why should Koreans give their lives in a war in Ukraine?” he asked.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that Moscow is prepared to negotiate towards a lasting peace with Ukraine, but won’t just “pause” the war, arguing that such a pause would buy Ukraine and its backers time to line up more weapons.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says both Russia and Ukraine have expressed interest in a limited ceasefire that would halt attacks on grain shipments and each country’s energy sectors.
