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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky marked the 1,000th day of the full-scale Russian invasion of his country with a call to push Moscow towards “a just peace.”<\/p>\n
Zelensky said that Russian President Vladimir Putin lacked the “real motivation” to engage in genuine peace negotiations in a video address to the European Parliament to thank Ukraine’s supporters.<\/p>\n
He pushed for harsher sanctions on Russian ships transporting oil as well as more weapons to hit Russian military targets like ammunition depots to push Putin towards the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian president warned that Putin, in pursuit of victory, could increase the deployment of North Korean troops on Ukraine’s borders from 11,000 to 100,000.<\/p>\n
Zelensky also criticized European leaders for their focus on winning elections “at Ukraine’s expense” while Putin is focused on winning the war, a pointed message to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.<\/p>\n
“A thousand days of war is a tremendous challenge,” Zelensky said, praising the European Union and Ukraine’s achievement in defending their values.<\/p>\n
“Ukraine deserves to make the next year, the year of peace,” he finished, to applause from the EU legislators assembled for the special sitting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n