Zelensky: "Russia Uses Gas as a Sanction Tool Against European Countries... Not a Reliable Supplier"

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Seoyul] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, "Looking at the current situation of the European energy market, it is clear how wrong the policies of some former leaders who made Europe a hostage to Russian gas supply were."

In a national address on the 20th (local time), President Zelensky stated, "The European Union (EU) dares not include gas in the Russian sanctions package, but Russia is using gas as a means of self-imposed sanctions against European countries."

He added, "Ukraine has always said that Russia is not a reliable gas supplier," and "If our opinion had been heeded earlier, there would have been no need to devise emergency measures to resolve the artificially caused energy shortage by Russia as it is now."

He continued, "The full-scale invasion, missile terrorism, and destruction of cities?all of this started with the gas war," and "To prevent such things from happening to other countries, Ukraine must achieve a substantial victory over Russia."

President Zelensky also called for additional sanctions against Russia and increased weapons support for Ukraine. He said, "Russia must pay a much greater price for the war to pursue peace."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.