Zelenskyy: Countries buying Russian oil using blood money

LONDON – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told the BBC that European countries that continue to buy Russian oil are “earning their money in other people’s blood.”

He cited Germany and Hungary, accusing them of blocking tougher energy embargoes. This year, Russia is expected to make £250 billion ($326 billion) in energy sales.

“Some of our friends and partners understand that it is a different time now, that it is no longer an issue of business and money – that it is an issue of survival,” he told the BBC.

On weapon supplies to Ukraine, he said: “The United States, the United Kingdom, some European countries – they are trying to help and are helping.”

“But still we need it sooner, sooner and faster,” he said. “The key word is now.”

Mariupol, a strategic port city in the south, has come under heavy Russian bombardment.

Zelenskyy said he thought thousands may have been killed in the city.

“We also have information that as well as those tens of thousands of dead, many have disappeared,” he said. “We know their documents have been replaced, they were given Russian passports and taken deep into Russia – some to camps, some to other cities. No one knows what is happening to those people. No one knows how many have been killed.”

Zelenskyy said atrocities Russia reportedly committed in places like Mariupol and Bucha had limited the possibility of successful peace talks.

Bucha, a suburb of the national capital of Kyiv, was retaken by Ukrainian forces a little more than a week ago. Civilians were found shot in the head with their hands tied behind their backs, and there were widespread reports of sexual violence.

“Bucha is in the process of closing (the possibilities of peace talks),” Zelenskyy said. “It’s not about me — it’s about Russia. They will not have many more chances to speak with us.”

After visiting Bucha last week, Zelesnkyy said he “experienced the entire spectrum of emotions” and ended the day with “nothing but hatred towards the Russian military.”

He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin and the hid army “from top to bottom” of being “war criminals.”

Zelenskyy said he was pleading for Ukrainians to stay calm to avoid a panic that could lead to a run on banks, destabilizing the Ukrainian economy.

“That was what Russia — and not just Russia — wanted, but we didn’t let that happen,” he said. “But we did not expect the full-scale invasion when it happened.”

Zelenskyy said eastern Ukraine was now the “most difficult situation” for the army, “but this is where our most powerful units are concentrated.”

“They can destroy us, but we will answer; they can kill but they will also die,” he said. “I can’t understand for what — I can’t understand why they came.”​​​​​​​