Effectiveness of instruments of influence on Russia determines how long war will last – Zelensky

President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in his video address to the nation on Friday evening, Ukrinform reports.

“I am sure that you periodically see in the media - Ukrainian and Western - reports on how long this war can last. Some say a few weeks. Others - several years. Some say the war will last until the end of this year. And someone advises to prepare for a permanent confrontation with Russia as long as it exists,” he said.

Zelensky said that of course, he also hear different predictions but noted he had much more information than some media outlets about the intentions and capabilities of the Russian army. In particular, this concerns the potential of the Russian economy, the emotional state of society in Russia.

“All this must be taken into account before saying how long the war will last. Therefore, we must take into account the effectiveness of instruments of influence on Russia used by Ukraine and our entire anti-war coalition against Russia's aggression,” he said.

Zelensky stressed that the success of Ukrainian military on the battlefield is really significant. But not enough to clean Ukraine’s land from the occupiers yet, more needs to be done.

“Sanctions against Russia are very significant. Economically painful. But still not enough for the Russian military machine to be left without means of subsistence. We promote stronger, more destructive ones,” he said.

Thus, according to him, these are “two areas that determine how long this war will last”.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops have been shelling and destroying key infrastructure facilities, conducting massive shelling of residential areas of Ukrainian cities and villages using artillery, multiple rocket launchers and ballistic missiles.

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