Sanctions, Oil Caps, Etc.
No one has been able to stop Putin. Only Trump remains; he might be able to. But to stop Putin, one thing is essential: he must lose money. Only then will he be unable to expand his army and military sector.
That’s why sanctions matter: targeting the banking sector, the shadow fleet, and oil prices. Capping the price of Russian energy is critical because oil is their main source of income. What happens in the Middle East is now driving oil prices up, and that, in turn, affects Europe’s security. That’s why oil price caps are such a powerful tool.
Sanctions are powerful when enforced. If loopholes are closed, missile components, including for ballistic systems, simply won’t reach Russia. Sanctions aren’t just about money. They’re about stopping the flow of deadly technology, the parts that enable Russia to produce these horrific weapons at scale.
Instead of a ceasefire, Russia is issuing ultimatums that Ukraine surrender
Russia drafted a so-called proposal, but they know perfectly well it violates Ukraine’s Constitution, our laws, international law, and the will of the Ukrainian people. What Russia offered is not a peace plan. It’s an ultimatum, written deliberately so that Ukraine could never accept it.
Let’s be clear: Russia is the aggressor. They are the ones who invaded. If we sit at the table, it is already a compromise, that we’re even willing to speak with those who murder and destroy.
Ukraine has shown it is ready to do everything for peace — everything except surrender. But let’s be honest: what is a ceasefire if not simply the act of ceasing fire? So why should there be conditions for simply stopping the fire?
Russia in the role of a Russophobe
How can anyone speak about protecting Russian-speaking people when most of the killings done by the Russians were in eastern Ukraine, the very region where the majority of Russian-speaking Ukrainians lived?
And how do they dare raise the issue of the so-called “Russian church”? Faith is a matter of personal choice. It’s a freedom. Yet, Putin inserts himself right under the church bell, telling people how to cross themselves.
A person can go to a church, a mosque, a synagogue, it’s their right. And yet he tells people how much respect they should have for the Russian church. Why? This isn’t even a matter of the state, it’s a matter of the church.
See the originals at Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський@ZelenskyyUa