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Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Wednesday that every euro sent to Russia bears “Ukrainian people’s blood,” as he called on European countries to stop funding Russia’s war.
“Every euro, every cent” that goes to the Russian Federation is invested in the army and not the Russian people, Klitschko told the European Committee of the Regions’ working group on Ukraine.
Speaking via video link, the former heavyweight boxing world champion added that the European money was tarnished with “Ukrainian people’s blood,” as EU countries continue to pay Russia to supply them with fossil fuels.
In his address, Klitschko also dismissed Russia’s claim it would scale back its assault on Kyiv, and said that air raid sirens rang constantly in the Ukrainian capital overnight.
Klitschko also slammed the European response to Russia’s invasion as being two-faced: though countries condemn the war, there’s still “business communication” ongoing, and that money allows Russia to wage war on Ukraine, he said.
The Kyiv mayor’s remarks echoes the view of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who recently criticized the West for its different viewpoints toward the war. While some countries want the conflict to continue in order to “exhaust” Russia, others want it to finish to protect Russia’s markets and their own economies, Zelenskyy said.
In his address, Klitschko also repeated earlier calls for Ukraine’s accession to the EU: “We see our future [as] part of [the] European family.”
His remarks come as European countries are scrambling to reduce their dependence on Russia’s energy, one of Moscow’s most profitable sources of revenue. One of the latest examples came Wednesday, as Poland committed to banning all Russian fossil fuels by the end of the year.
Source: Politico
