Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for “strong responses” to countries continuing to purchase Russian oil, calling for sanctions and tariffs while preserving the “isolation” of Moscow in global politics.
Zelenskyy also called for mutual defence-like guarantees to preserve the security of Ukraine as seen in Article 5 of the NATO charter.
“One of the key issues is the isolation of Russia. This must absolutely be preserved. Sanctions work in part toward this. Tariffs must also work toward this. Russian assets must be confiscated for this purpose as well. It is important that principles prevail – in political matters, in cultural matters, in sports, in all things. Russia’s bet on money – on Putin’s belief that he can buy everything and everyone – must not succeed,” Zelenskyy said Friday at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting.
The Ukrainian President added: “Persuading Russia alone, dialogue alone, will not achieve this. What is needed is truly strong pressure – so that instead of aiming to occupy Ukraine or any other country, Putin’s goal becomes preserving his economy, his system, preserving what he has lived for all these years.”
Through the speech and the following discussion, Zelenskyy took particular aim at China, while making no mention of India with regards to applying pressure on Russia. However, in the last few months, the US under President Donald Trump has specifically targeted India’s continued purchase of Russian oil, which touched $56 billion in the last financial year (2024-25).
“We must find a way to influence China so that it uses its leverage on Russia for the sake of ending the war. Russia will, in any case, remain a supplier of raw materials for China and politically dependent on China–that is the path they have chosen, and they have already gone too far down it,” said the Ukrainian President.
The change in focus–China–comes as the Russia-Ukraine war has continued for over three years and is heading into a critical phase on the eastern front in Ukraine. The Ukrainian mapping and monitoring group Deep State estimates that Russia has been able to occupy over 1,500 sq km of Ukrainian territory during the months of June, July and August, which is far higher than the same period last year (which stood roughly at 659 sq km), according to reports.
However, the cost of these gains is the lives of 94,000 Russian soldiers according to the Ukrainian General Staff. These numbers cannot be independently verified as neither side has released their losses during the war.
For Zelenskyy, the last few months has also seen frenetic diplomacy between the US and Russia to come to an agreement to at least pause the war. President Vladimir Putin met with Trump at Alaska on 15 August for an international summit, that Zelenskyy termed as a “success” for the Russian leader.
It was the first meeting between the leaders of Russia and the US since the current phase of full-scale war began in February 2022. The Western nations focussed on isolating Putin until Trump’s arrival to the White House earlier this year.
“For Putin [the Alaska Summit] was a success. He held a meeting on American territory. It was more successful for him,” declared Zelenskyy, adding that he does not know the full details of the discussion between Trump and Putin.
“Sanctions and tariffs need to be applied. Russia is getting the components from other countries. The private sector is still trading with Russia. All private companies trading with Russia should be sanctioned,” urged Zelenskyy, while in conversation with journalist Fareed Zakaria.
Also Read: ‘Ukraine war terrible, but not ours’—Marco Rubio hints US may abandon peace efforts if no progress
‘Cannot trust Putin’
Zelenskyy’s message to the leaders gathered at the summit that included Finnish President Alexander Stubb, General Keith Kellogg, the US’ Special Envoy for Ukraine, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and British National Security Adviser (NSA) Jonathan Powell, is that Putin cannot be trusted and that any swapping of Ukrainian territory will not bring about a lasting peace.
“Putin’s goal is the occupation of all of Ukraine. And whatever he may say to anyone, it is clear–he has revved up his war machine to such an extent that he simply cannot stop it unless he is forced to fundamentally change his objectives. Some may think that swapping territories or trying to tempt Putin with the resumption of trade with America or the world could stop this war. That is not the case,” said Zelenskyy.
“Putin is betting that money will corrupt everyone–the weak and the strong alike, by the way. He believes money will allow him to buy forgiveness–for everything. Basically, that is his plan: to try to buy forgiveness. And to continue the war.”
The Russian President has laid claim to the Ukrainian provinces of Kherson, Zaporizhzia, Donetsk and Luhansk–a position that is a non-starter for Kyiv. Russia has also occupied the territory of Crimea since 2014.
The American leadership has at times indicated that some compromise on territorial claims would be required from Kyiv to see an end to the war.
“Giving Putin this or that piece of Ukrainian land so that he stops the war–that will not happen. And that is not a solution. It is a pause. Just like after 2008 and Georgia. Just like after 2014 with Crimea and Donetsk,” Zelenskyy said.
For Ukraine, Zelenskyy highlighted that the need of the hour to start ending the war would begin with a ceasefire in fighting followed by a potential multi-national peacekeeping force keeping the peace on ground with support from the US.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: India giving voice to importance of principles in shaping global order—Lithuanian foreign secy