Russia says Zelenskyy intimidates Europe to secure support

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of deliberately blackmailing and intimidating European countries in order to prevent a reduction in financial and military assistance to Kyiv.

Speaking as cited by TASS, Zakharova pointed to Zelenskyy’s recent statement that he is ready to “negotiate, buy, assemble, exchange and even blackmail” to secure supplies of new missiles, describing it as confirmation of what she called a broader strategy.

According to her, Zelenskyy’s repeated warnings about a potential Russian threat to Europe are intended to influence European governments and public opinion.

“This is exactly what he is doing when he tells tall tales that Russia allegedly wants to attack European countries. He does this precisely in order to blackmail and intimidate Europeans,” she said. “Unrestrained dependency has long since become, in essence, the state policy of modern Ukraine.”

Zakharova further claimed that Zelenskyy is not focused on the views of Ukrainian citizens, arguing that he does not plan to take part in elections.

“His main audience is, of course, Europeans, who have become ‘infected’ with Stockholm syndrome and have, as it were, come to love the one who mistreats them and, in essence, destroys them,” she stressed. “Western Europe has ‘sagged’ under the burden of its supposed tolerance and new ethics and has found itself in a state of absolute dependence and subordination to a terrorist.”

By Tamilla Hasanova