Zelenskiy: EU should not be a “supermarket” for rich Russians
(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a recent name on Friday for European Union states to ban visas for Russian nationals to maintain the bloc from turning into a “grocery store” open to anybody with the means to enter.
Zelenskiy mentioned his proposal didn’t apply to Russians who wanted assist for risking their freedom or their lives by resisting Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s insurance policies.
“There have to be ensures that Russian killers or accomplices of state terror not use Schengen visas,” Zelenskiy mentioned in a nightly deal with, referring to visas granting the holder entry to the border-free Schengen Space that spans a number of EU states.
“Secondly, we should not destroy the very thought of Europe – our widespread European values. Europe should due to this fact not be reworked right into a grocery store the place it’s not essential who walks in and the place the principle factor is that folks simply pay for his or her items.”
Zelenskiy first urged a visa ban in an interview this week with the Washington Submit, saying Russians ought to stay in their very own world till they modified their philosophy.
Zelenskiy’s attraction has but to win assist from the EU’s main gamers. However he mentioned he was heartened by assist from the ex-Soviet Baltic states and the Czech Republic, present rotating EU president. Finland has additionally backed the notion.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced Zelenskiy’s attraction this week, saying “any try to isolate Russians or Russia is a course of that has no prospects”.
(Reporting by Ronald Popeski, modifying by David Ljunggren and Sandra Maler)
