In the interview to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, President Poroshenko emphasized that Ukraine defends not only its independence and territorial integrity, but also the values of democracy and freedom throughout Europe.
"We do not ask for soldiers. We just ask the EU to remain on our side, because being together is the only way to be stronger. You see, in Donbas, we defend not only our national sovereignty - we defend democracy in Europe, which is at gunpoint of Moscow,” Petro Poroshenko stressed.
"I would like to bring Salvini (Minister of the Interior of Italy Matteo Salvini - ed.) to Donbas to show him schools and markets after Russian bombing. The deceased children, orphans, military widows and destroyed cities. I am sure that then he would understand the extent to which sanctions against Moscow are needed," the President added.
“Actually, I am afraid your Minister of the Interior is not aware of the dreadful tragedy Ukraine is suffering because of the Kremlin,” the Head of State noted.
He emphasized that values are always more important than money and it is better to fulfill your own obligations to the EU than to do business with Russia.
The President noted that Ukraine has been the object of Russian aggression for four years, "when Russian soldiers in our territory kill our soldiers and our civilians".
"Such a brutal violation of international law, which has already led to eleven thousand casualties, should provoke a protest in the mind of ny politician who respects himself. I could also tell Salvini about the terrible conditions of Ukrainian prisoners in Russian prisons or about the persecution of 350,000 Crimean Tatars who did not accept the Russian passport after the illegal annexation by Moscow," the President said.
The President said: "Putin is only an emperor who wants to annex my country without even asking our people. Imagine that tomorrow he wants to do the same with Sardinia. He can arrange a fake referendum and declare that the island has suddenly become Russian. Each Italian would begin a struggle to get it back and, of course, they would have the support of the whole world. Likewise, I expect everyone, including Italy, to fight against Russia's military occupation of my country".
The Head of State also emphasized the importance of economic restrictive sanctions against the aggressor country, which are directly related to the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
"In fact, economic sanctions are still effective, because, despite the rise in gas prices, Russian economy is in stagnation and the purchasing power of Russians is falling. At present, these sanctions are not a punishment, but only a mechanism to keep the Russian Federation at the table of negotiations aimed at returning the occupied territories to Ukraine," Petro Poroshenko said, adding that, given Putin's ambitions, all European states should take care of the protection of their national security.
No comments:
Post a Comment