Western military analysts see the battle for Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk as a potential turning point in the war after a shift in momentum towards Russia following the surrender of Ukraine’s garrison in Mariupol last week.
READ ALSO:
“Ukraine will always be an independent state and it won’t be broken. The only question is what price our people will have to pay for their freedom, and what price Russia will pay for this senseless war against us,” said Zelenskiy in a late-night address on Thursday.
“The catastrophic unfolding events could be still stopped if the world treated the situation in Ukraine as if it were facing the same situation, if the powers that be did not play around with Russia but really pressed to end the war.”
Zelenskiy complained about disagreements within the EU on more sanctions against Russia and asked why some nations were being allowed to block the plan.
The EU is discussing a sixth round of punitive measures,including an embargo on Russian oil imports. Such a moverequires unanimity but Hungary opposes the idea for now on thegrounds its economy would suffer too much.
“How many more weeks will the European Union try to agree ona sixth package?” Zelenskiy asked, noting Russia was receiving one billion euros a day from the 27-nation bloc for energy supplies.
“Pressure on Russia is literally a matter of saving lives.Every day of procrastination, weakness, various disputes orproposals to ‘pacify’ the aggressor at the expense of the victimmerely means more Ukrainians being killed.”
Zelenskiy’s comments mark the second day in a row that hehas sharpened his criticism of the world’s approach to the war.
Reuters
