War in Ukraine: Zelensky asks the EU to intensify sanctions against Russia

“The possibilities of sanctions have not yet been exhausted. The pressure on Russia must increase. That’s what I said” to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Zelenski said through her Twitter account.

On Thursday, the leaders of the 27 EU countries approved new sanctions against Russia, which affect the energy, finance and transport sectors, but without excluding them from the Swift international banking system.

Kiev urged Western countries to take this latest measure, presented by experts as a financial “atomic weapon”, but which will also negatively affect European entities and individuals. Russia’s government, led by Vladimir Putin, decided to start its invasion of Ukraine on Thursday after weeks of tensions. On Friday, the fighting reached Kiev, the capital.

On the other hand, the president of Ukraine denounced that the Russian army is targeting civilian areas, praising the “heroism” of his fellow citizens in the face of the Russian invasion and assuring that his troops were doing “everything possible” to defend the country.

“They said civilians weren’t targeted, but that’s another one of their lies… Tonight, they started shelling civilian neighborhoods. This reminds us of (the Nazi offensive of) 1941,” the president said in a video posted on social media.

Two strong explosions resounded early Friday in the center of Kiev, according to an AFP journalist. The Ukrainian army reported “missile firing” at the capital and the destruction of two of them by defense systems.

The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klichkó, ​​indicated that three people were injured, one of them critically, in a residential neighborhood southeast of the capital. “Ukrainians have shown heroism,” Zelensky said. Launching their invasion on Thursday, the Russians “thought our forces were tired, but we are not tired,” he said. “All forces do everything possible” to defend Ukraine, the head of state noted.

Zelensky also indicated that Moscow should talk to them at some point if it wanted to end the fighting. “Russia will have to talk to us sooner or later. How we can end the fighting and stop the invasion. The sooner this conversation takes place, the smaller the losses will be, even for Russia,” he maintained.

And addressing the Russians who protested against the war on Thursday, hundreds of them arrested, he said: “We see you, that means you have heard us and believed us. Fight for us, fight against the war.”