MOSCOW, February 2 Vladimir Zelensky complained that Russia has become to adapt to sanctions more quickly, and the pace of introduction of new restrictions by Europe has slowed down.
Zelensky said this on Thursday during a joint press conference with the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Kyiv. The speech was broadcast on von der Leyen's Twitter page.
«Now we see that Europe's sanctions pace has slowed down a little, and the terrorist state (Russia — ed.), on the contrary, is increasing the pace of adaptation to sanctions,» Zelensky said, calling for more sanctions pressure on Moscow.
Russia has been conducting a military special operation in Ukraine since February 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin called its task «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» According to the president, the ultimate goal of the operation is the liberation of Donbass and the creation of conditions that guarantee Russia's security. Earlier, Putin said that the West was trying to create an anti-Russian enclave in Ukraine for the collapse of Russia, and a special operation was launched to prevent this. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted, the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, «including not only the supply of weapons, but also the training of personnel … on the territory of Great Britain, Germany, Italy and other countries.»
The West has stepped up sanctions pressure on Russia because of Ukraine. Putin has previously said that the policy of containing and weakening Russia is a long-term strategy for the West, and sanctions have dealt a severe blow to the entire global economy. According to him, the main goal of the West is to worsen the lives of millions of people. The Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that Russia will solve all the problems that the West creates for it.