President of Ukraine to PACE: Russian Federation Must Be Diplomatically Isolated As Much As Possible

Ukraine insists that the world should designate the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism or a terrorist state and wants the utmost diplomatic isolation of the country. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky made a corresponding statement, speaking at the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe via video link.

“It is necessary to isolate the Russian Federation diplomatically as much as possible so that the community in Russia knows and pays a high price for this aggression, so that society begins to put pressure on its military and political leadership,” the Head of State said.

In this context, he pointed out the importance of designating the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism or a terrorist state.

“The most important thing is for the society of the Russian Federation to understand that they are the society of a terrorist state from this moment; the European states are not open for them from this moment. You can’t support the war and have a rest in Europe. You can’t say that ‘we are fighting against these values, we have our own values,’ but if they have ‘their’ values, why do they enjoy countries with other values?” Zelensky emphasised.

Also during the speech, he called for tough sanctions against the Russian energy sector.

“It is crucial to deprive the aggressor state of profits from oil and gas exports. Russia must see zero on its accounts to think about the benefits of peace. This should be the meaning of EU sanctions packages,” said the President of Ukraine.

He called for continuing the dialogue to find a way to force the Russian Federation to comply with the IAEA’s demand to ensure the demilitarisation of the ZNPP.

In addition, the President of Ukraine urged that Russia be held as an aggressor state and each of the Russian murderers to be accountable for all the crimes of this war. He noted that Europe could lead the creation of an international tribunal for Russia’s crimes and the creation of compensation mechanisms for the damages caused by the Russian Federation.

Bohdan Marusyak