Ukraine's president calls for stronger sanctions against Russia

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) - Ukraine’s president on Friday called for stronger sanctions against Russia and more defense support for Ukraine from other countries and international organizations.

“Not all possibilities for sanctions have been exhausted yet. The pressure on Russia must increase,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Twitter.

Mentioning that he told this to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, Zelenskyy added: “I am grateful to the president for her decision on additional financial assistance.”

In a second post, he wrote that he discussed “countering the aggressor” with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto.

Zelenskyy said he informed the Finnish leader about Ukraine’s defense and “insidious shelling of Kyiv,” adding that Ukraine is “grateful” to Finland “for allocating $50 million aid.”

“It’s an effective contribution to the anti-war coalition. We keep working,” he stated, underscoring that Ukraine needs increased sanctions and more defense support against Russia.

In another post, Zelenskyy pointed out that he and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also spoke about the latest events.

“Today Ukraine needs the support of partners more than ever. We demand effective counteraction to the Russian Federation. Sanctions must be further strengthened,” he said.

Zelenskyy also discussed the Russian intervention with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda.

“We defend our freedom, our land. We need effective international assistance,” the Ukrainian president said on Twitter.

“Appealed to the Bucharest Nine for defense aid, sanctions, pressure on the aggressor. Together we have to put Russia on the negotiating table. We need anti-war coalition.”

Russia launched its long-feared military intervention in Ukraine early Thursday, with President Vladimir Putin saying the operation aims to protect people “subjected to genocide” by Kyiv and to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine. He also called on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms.

- Donbas crisis and Russia’s military intervention

The February 2014 “Maidan revolution” in Ukraine led to former President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and a pro-Western government coming to power.

This was followed by Russia illegally annexing the Crimea region and separatists declaring independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, both of which have large ethnic Russian populations.

As clashes erupted between Russian-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian army, the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements were signed in Moscow after the intervention of Western powers.

The conflict, however, simmered for years with persistent cease-fire violations. As of February 2022, some 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine.

They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, claims consistently rejected by Moscow.

Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow earlier this week officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, followed by the start of a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.