Zelensky calls for sanctions against Rosatom for radiation blackmail at Zaporizhzhia NPP
The head of state said this in his online speech at the Offshore Northern Seas Conference 2022 in Norway, Ukrinform reports.
"It is not normal when there are still no blocking sanctions against Rosatom for radiation blackmail at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, for which specific Rosatom employees at the plant are also responsible. And it is not normal when any Russian citizen can get a visa to European countries to go on vacation or go shopping - we know this very well - even if he is a war criminal or helps the Russian state work against Europe," Zelensky said.
According to him, it is not normal when some European companies are still hesitant whether to leave the Russian market or not and when someone still hopes for cooperation with Russia in the energy sector.
"There can be no concessions to bandits! Only new sanction strikes against them," Zelensky said.
He noted that Russia's goal in its radiation blackmail is completely cynical and deliberate – "to intimidate Ukrainians, to intimidate all Europeans, to blackmail and coerce."
In his opinion, this pressure is for Russian state propagandists and officials to say that it is allegedly not Russia to blame, that someone else created another crisis and that this someone should be influenced, and that it is allegedly necessary to negotiate with the Kremlin precisely for this reason.
"Just think about it: Russia is the only terrorist in the world who managed to turn a nuclear power plant into a battlefield and who consistently does everything to make Europe watch where the wind may blow the radiation if, God forbid, a disaster occurs," Zelensky said.
He added that the Russian leadership has "a specific bandit's logic - they create problems, hoping that the victims of these problems will come and try to agree on their solution, and the bandit will get something for it."
"Russia wants Europe to turn a blind eye to the war, and for this purpose, it is provoking internal chaos in Europe. Russia wants to take away freedom from us by force of arms, and from you - by these crises that it creates and exacerbates. Russia wants to force you to abandon European values," Zelensky said.
