Europe must do everything so that Russia doesn’t see itself as world ruler - Zelensky

That’s according to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who gave an interview to a number of public broadcasters, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Europe must do everything so that Russia does not feel like the ruler of the world. Today it is possible. The Ukrainian Army stopped the world's second largest army. This doesn’t mean though that the Russian people should be destroyed. This is a mistake. Within (Russia), people are hyped up over the allegation that this is a challenge to Russia, to Russian speakers. This is not true… They (European states) must restrict the power of the Russian Federation: not to allow them to make money in foreign markets, to withdraw their business – to hurt them as they hurt us. But the thing is that we’re in basements, with no water, no food, our enterprises have halted operations, we can’t have a walk around Kyiv at night, to dine out at our favorite restaurant. Let them feel that pain. It’s not about bombing them or destroying the nation with missiles,” said Zelensky.

The president noted that in 2014, no one in Ukraine could even fathom the possibility of a full-scale invasion by Russia. There were predictions from scholars and historians that Russia was seeking to bring back the Soviet Union, but there was no idea of ​​war. And those statements by Russia, the so-called "protection of Russian speakers", have led to the fact that those who one way or the other supported the idea of ​​Russian being a second state language now hate Russian soldiers because their cities and towns have been destroyed.

"You will just wake up one morning and understand what we understood – the war has begun," Zelensky said, addressing Europeans.

As reported earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 declared war on Ukraine and launched a large-scale invasion. Russian troops have been shelling and destroying infrastructure, conducting massive air and artillery raids on residential areas of Ukrainian cities and towns.

The United States, the European Union, and other nations have imposed sanctions on Russia as an aggressor whose international isolation is growing by the day.

The International Criminal Court has begun documenting and investigating Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine