"If world’s reaction is weak now, Russia will invent some new escalation," - Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that the world must now show strength.
The head of state said this during a speech at the Australian Lowy Institute, Censor.NET informs.
According to Zelensky, Putin is now carefully analyzing the world's reaction to the pseudo-referendums he organized on Ukrainian soil and to the announcement of the annexation of Ukrainian territories.
"What exactly is he interested in? It's very simple: he is interested in whether he still has the potential for escalation. If the world's reaction is weak now, Russia will come up with some new escalation," the president emphasized.
The head of state added that when a criminal does not receive the appropriate punishment for a crime, he perceives it as permission for further criminal acts.
"Therefore, the world must now show strength. Strength is needed to finally put an end to aggression, to the aggressor's ability to escalate.
International platforms need a clear and principled condemnation of Russia for this attempt to annex Ukrainian territory so that it is very different from what happened in 2014. At the level of states and unions of states, new and tough sanctions against Russia are needed so that the situation is also very different from 2014.
At the level of cooperation with Ukraine, regular and demonstrative packages of support, primarily defense and financial, are needed so that the aggressor sees that his criminal actions only complicate the situation for him," Zelensky concluded.
