Russia must not profit from seized Ukrainian resources – Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in a Reuters interview that Vladimir Putin has seized Ukrainian resources worth trillions of dollars, cautioning that a ceasefire without de-occupation would allow Russia to exploit these resources to fund another war.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

According to Zelenskyy, Putin stole trillions from Ukraine in captured resources in the temporarily occupied territories, which is less than 20% of Ukraine’s mineral deposits. 

The president noted that it is fair to talk about helping to recover territories because a simple ceasefire will only allow Russians to develop the captured resources.

“Putin stole trillions from us, but during a full-scale war he cannot develop these [Ukrainian resources], and we are told about a ceasefire. This means giving him a pause and letting him earn these trillions. When he starts developing everything, he will make money, grow his economy, raise an army and then go to war again,” Zelenskyy added.

Zelenskyy stated that stronger pressure on Russia, including sanctions, could help “push Putin back.”

“Strengthen sanctions, Putin can be pushed back, there are our minerals and we will develop them together with you. Why should we give him trillions of dollars?” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy concluded that the guarantee of security for Ukraine will be a force that can stop Putin’s new aggression.

By way of background, the human rights community in Ukraine also believes that the de-occupation of Crimea is necessary to stop the systematic violations of human rights committed by the Russian Federation on the peninsula. They are urging other countries to support Ukraine with timely and sufficient weapons and military equipment supplies towards this end.

Earlier, the human rights NGO Crimea SOS emphasised that ignoring the war crimes of the Russian occupiers has led to a deterioration of the human rights situation in the occupied Crimea. The lack of response from the international community to the occupation of Crimea and the further crimes of the occupiers made it easier for Russia to turn the peninsula into a springboard for the invasion of mainland Ukraine in 2022.