Ukraine appeals to EU to ask all Russian Visa seekers whether they support Putin's war
Kyiv's special envoy on sanctions appealed to the European Union (EU) to ask every Russian national applying for a visa whether they support the war in Ukraine.
- World News
- 2 min read
As the Russian offensive against Ukraine continues unabated for five months in a row, and several polls exhibit a majority of Russians supporting the war, Kyiv's special envoy on sanctions appealed to the European Union (EU) to ask every Russian national applying for a visa whether they support the war in Ukraine or not. While speaking to Politico, sanctions envoy Oleksii Makeiev, claimed that over 80% of the Russians favour their President Vladimir Putin's "unlawful action" against Ukraine and added those citizens should not be given access to the free world. He pitched the world should consider "special treatment" for Russians.
"We insist that those Russians who support this genocidal war — and different polls show that over 80% of Russians still support the war — they should not get access to the free world," Makeiev said in an interview. Makeiev clarified that the special treatment means a mandatory new questionnaire for Russian citizens when applying for a visa to go to, say, France or Germany.
Citing an example, he said that the Russian needs to fill whether the person or their relatives committed war crimes in Ukraine or whether the applicant felt Putin-- partially or completely-- responsible, for the war. "At the end of the day, we must tell the Russian population that they have their own partial responsibility for what their government is doing," he said. "I think that would slowly influence in a way that the Russian population wakes up and start thinking in terms of being responsible and urging their own government to change policy," the sanctions envoy opined.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine will definitely win
As the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war completed 151 days on July 24, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on July 23 recalled the day similar to all the previous ones with Moscow -- attacking the country with missiles, and heavy fighting in Donbass and Kharkiv region. Despite all the scenarios, the President affirmed that Ukraine will definitely mark its victory." This day also shows how far we have come towards our victory. It will be!" he said staunchly. Refuting Moscow's "tall claims", he used the phrase "shapkozakidatelstvo" (false forecasts) to describe their assertions and added that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are advancing step by step in the region.