KIEV, Ukraine: As Moscow's war against Kiev enters its 56th day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the European Union (EU) is presently planning a sixth package of sanctions against Russia.
Zelenksy said he discussed the sanctions with President of the European Council Charles Michel at their meeting in Kiev earlier on Wednesday, according to his latest video address uploaded on Thursday.
"We're trying to make it as painful as possible for the Russian military machine and the Russian state." "I underline in every conversation that sanctions are essential not as a goal in and of themselves, but as a practical weapon to drive Russia to pursue peace," the President was quoted in the film as saying.
The sanctions will impose limits on Russia's energy, banking, exports, imports, and transportation sectors. According to the BBC, Putin also reaffirmed his desire for a comprehensive boycott on Russian oil imports, he said. Zelensky also said he discussed the "danger to Europe's food and energy crisis" with Michel, as well as the potential of resuming Ukrainian agricultural exports and preventing Russia from "blackmailing Europe."
The European Council chief paid a visit to Borodyanka in Kiev with his staff before their meeting, Zelensky claimed, and "saw with his own eyes the carnage they (Russia) had inflicted."
"Without peace, there can be no justice," Zelensky said, adding that Russian troops and leadership would face war crimes charges. "We will find every surname, every home location, and every bank account."
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