Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went on a foul-mouthed tirade over Russia’s elite being allowed to evade punishment for the war and told them to “f--- away” back to Russia.
In an impassioned post on X, Zelensky called for more sanctions to force Moscow to end its now nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine.
“Total sanctions means total,” he wrote, offering praise to President Donald Trump for the U.S. targeting Russia’s two largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, with sanctions last October as part of a bid to push Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire deal.
“We are thankful to him. He can sanction all of their energy, in particular nuclear energy. And it will be a powerful message to the Europeans,” Zelensky wrote to his 8.2 million X followers.
Zelensky added that while “Europeans have done a lot,” they still have yet to sanction Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom.
“The persons and their relatives, their children, who live off their money in Europe, in the United States, who pay with these profits for their education at European universities, who own real estate in the United States. A lot of real estate. They financially support children and relatives everywhere,” Zelensky posted.
“They financially support children and relatives everywhere. F--- away to Russia. Go home. You don’t respect anybody in the United States. You don’t respect the rules. You don’t respect democracy. You don’t respect Ukraine or Europe. Go home.”
The U.S Treasury announced sanctions against Lukoil and Rosneft last year after Trump became frustrated with Putin’s unwillingness to support a ceasefire deal in Ukraine.
“Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don’t go anywhere,” Trump told reporters last October.
The move to target Russian oil companies, whose revenues help finance the Russian war machine, marked a significant shift in Trump’s foreign policy.
Trump had previously said he would not impose sanctions until European nations ceased buying Russian oil.
European Union countries are hoping to implement a ban on Russian gas imports by 2027 as part of an ongoing bid to pressure the country to end its invasion of Ukraine.
Slovakia and Hungary, whose leaders are staunchly pro-Putin and heavily reliant on Russian energy imports, are opposing the moves.
