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Ukraine insists that the time has come to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in his latest video message from Washington on February 22.
“Despite the flurry of emotions, we are now focused on the key, on making the decisions necessary to contain Russia. I had several telephone conversations today: with the US Secretary of State, the foreign ministers of Canada, the UK, the head of EU foreign policy. The sanctions was the key topic of our discussions. Now the main thing is when and what sanctions against the Russian Federation will be applied. Our position is clear: sanctions against Russia should be applied. The time has come,” Kuleba said.
The minister pointed out that Ukraine convenes all possible international formats, international meetings insist on holding summits, using all international mechanisms available to contain Russia.
“We all perfectly understand what is happening and how Russia is provoking us. We must now show wisdom and restraint in order to prevent the development of an armed confrontation. The President of Ukraine also had an extremely busy day, had telephone conversations with a number of leaders, held a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council. On Tuesday this work will continue, and we will all be engaged in protecting the national interests of Ukraine. This is a task our number one. But there is also a strategic task – to find a profitable solution that is beneficial to Ukraine in the current situation,” the Foreign Minister stressed.
Read also: Kremlin’s recognition of Ukraine’s breakaway regions is new Berlin wall, – Defense Minister
Putin signed a decree recognizing the areas, this move might justify Russia’s attack in those locations, and an agreement of cooperation with the heads of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. The militants do not control the entirety of their regions.
Following a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Putin’s decision could mean Russia’s unilateral withdrawal from the Minsk agreements and ignoring decisions within the “Normandy format talks.”
“According to Article 51 of the UN Charter, Ukraine reserves the right to individual and collective self-defense.”
Ukraine qualifies Russia’s latest actions as a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state, President Volodymyr Zelensky in an address following a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council stated.
Read also: Sanctions against Russia to be tougher than those from 2014, – Polish PM
Find the reaction of the West here.
As reported before, Ukraine loses $ 2-3 bln a month due to the threat of Russian invasion.
In January 2022, Bloomberg reported that the sanctions that are applied to Moscow due to the threat of a military invasion of Ukraine are causing serious damage to the Russian budget. A ban on Western funds buying state-issued debt, costing Russia $10 billion a year A retroactive ban on foreign participation in local state debts, costing $60 billion Halting access to the Swift payment system, which would make it much more difficult for Russia to collect payments on $535 billion of exports a year.
