– A significant part of Russian society should be subject to sanctions. They say about the oligarchs, it’s obvious, but around Putin there is a whole group of celebrities and officials who take advantage of his imperial policy. They need to be cut off from the world, from the West, PiS MEP Witold Waszczykowski said on Polish Radio 24.
The leaders of 27 EU countries have agreed on a second package of sanctions against Russia for an attack on Ukraine. They made the decision at an extraordinary summit in Brussels, which lasted almost 7 hours. These will include restrictions on access to capital markets that will affect 70 percent of Russian banks, restrictions on access to technology in the energy sector, and restrictions on access to money for the Russian regime.
Witold Waszczykowski, commenting on the situation in Ukraine, noted that it is impossible to stop Russia in accordance with current international law. “If the UN Security Council found that Russia violated the UN Charter, then a coalition could be formed that would stop Russia, but the Security Council would always be blocked by Russia, which has the right to veto,” he noted and recalled that Russia had violated not agreeing to join “blue helmets” to the zone between Russia and Ukraine in the Donbas.
“The Russians want to install a puppet government in Ukraine”
– Everything indicates that the Russians are in a hurry to take Kiev and install a puppet government there. Their strength is too weak to capture the whole of Ukraine. The pinpoint attacks of the Russians suggest that they too want to expand their dominance in the Donbas, break through the lands from the Donbass to the Crimea, capture Odessa, overthrow Ukrainian power and take control of Ukraine with Ukrainian forces already subordinate to Russia. They may be able to do this (…). If we don’t give Ukraine more weapons and resources to fight, then with Putin’s determination, Ukraine will be taken over by Russia through a change of government, he added.
“Russian society should start bearing the costs”
The guest of the program pointed out that the sanctions adopted by the US and the EU may come into force in a year or two. – Putin has been preparing for this for years, for sanctions, he regulated gas prices, today he has a budget surplus of about 600-800 billion dollars. He can safely survive the next year, during which time he will make such changes in Ukraine that it will be difficult to get acquainted with the country, – said the member of the European Parliament and noted that sanctions should be introduced that would be tougher for the Russians. – This society must begin to bear the costs, it must begin to reach the price of the imperial policy, – said Witold Waszczykowski.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday morning that the Russians were attacking military and civilian targets in Ukraine. In a televised address broadcast at dawn, the president added that the march of Russian troops to Kiev was delayed by Ukrainian troops in most directions, but the enemy had very large forces.