Ukraine’s Zelensky welcomes EU, US sanctions on Russia

Kiev, Feb 23 (EFE).- Ukraine welcomes the decision of the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada to impose new sanctions on Russia, president Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday.

“We are expecting further steps to increase the sanction pressure [on Russia]. A decision by Germany to stop certification of the North Stream 2 pipeline is very important. It has to become irreversible and to fully stop this project, which is a weapon, a weapon already used against Ukraine and all of Europe,” he said at a joint press conference in Kiev with the president of Poland Andrzej Duda and of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda.

Zelensky said Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania were united in their condemnation of Russia’s decision to recognize self-proclaimed separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states.

“This is yet another act of aggression against Ukraine, against our sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is a legitimization of Russian military presence on the temporarily occupied Donbas, which has been hiding over the previous eight years under the separatists’ insignia,” Zelensky added.

“This means a unilateral withdrawal by Russia from the Minsk agreements and undermines year-lasting efforts by Ukraine and the international community to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.”EFE

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