Europe does not support lifting sanctions on Russia over the Diesel Deal — Zelenskyy

Ukraine’s European partners do not support easing sanctions against Russia. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said that he had discussed the issue of frozen Russian assets with European leaders. The President of Ukraine said this while speaking with journalists, UNN reports.

Details

According to Zelenskyy, during meetings with European partners, he discussed the possible consequences of the Diesel Deal and other steps that Ukraine does not support.

First, I am very grateful to our European partners. We held a number of meetings, and they demonstrated unity around supporting Ukraine both publicly and privately, in discussions of public and non-public issues. And I held many conversations. And there are very important agreements. This includes air defense, and, which is very important, money. And we are speaking about this openly. For next year, we need an additional 70 billion to support our efforts and protect our state. Above all, protecting our country and, of course, supporting the budget are also very important. I know that this is not easy. And I am grateful to the Europeans that no one said “no,” that all the strong countries and the EU leadership [are supportive]. I am grateful to António, Ursula, and the leaders that they all understood. I explained to them in detail what is happening, what we think in detail, and what we know from our intelligence services about the Diesel Deal and other steps that may be taken and that could certainly be unsupported by our country. If they are coming from one state or another, I hear only support from Europe

He also said that he had discussed the issue of frozen Russian assets with European partners, including representatives of Belgium.

Everyone understands, and no one supports the Diesel Deal. Everyone received my signal that there must be no lifting of sanctions, and everyone supports the position that no sanctions against Russia can be lifted until Putin ends the killing. On the contrary, everyone is working on the next package of sanctions. As for the frozen assets, I also discussed this in detail with Belgium, and I am grateful to the prime minister and his team, and once again to the EU leaders. Everyone understands that there is a risk that Russia will do everything possible, through various partners, to try to take back some of the frozen assets for itself. Yes, that is true. We have such information, but once again, we discussed the details with the Europeans. Today, this is fully under control. Under Europe’s control—which means that as of today, it is safe. Thank you to all our partners

We remind you

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that easing sanctions against Russia will not help stop the war. He called the agreement on diesel fuel the first step toward the further lifting of restrictions.