Ukraine’s Zelenskyy calls for sustained pressure to end ‘Putin’s crazy war’

Ukrainian president urges world leaders to keep choking Russia’s revenues to impede its war efforts.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday [Charly Triballeau/AFP]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has singled out Russian President Vladimir Putin as the reason for the continuing war between the two neighbouring countries, urging world leaders to sustain economic pressure on Moscow during his address at the United Nations General Assembly.

“For nearly five years now, Russia’s generals have tried to carry out Putin’s crazy war,” Zelenskyy said, adding that no one openly supported this war “except for one man”.

Zelenskyy said Russia had lost 248,000 soldiers over the last eight months in Ukraine, managing to capture “a little more than 1,000 square kilometres [386 square miles] of our territory this year”.

“Putin spent 248 people for every kilometre. Does anyone still think he is smart?” he said, adding that the numbers “are not just statistics. This is about people”.

“We have archived footage of thousands and thousands of Russians losing their lives in kill zones. This is what Putin wants,” he said.

“Something always seems to stop Putin from saying, ‘That’s it. Enough. Peace,'” Zelenskyy said. “Can you even imagine him without war? He is ‘patient zero’, the one from whom war keeps spreading further. ‘Patient zero’ must be stopped,” he said.

Zelenskyy said he expects Russia to intensify its bombing campaign on the country in the coming months and that Ukrainians are prepared for a harsh winter.

“Ukrainians understand that this winter could be very harsh for us, but in response we will have no choice but to make it harsh for Russia too,” he said.

This month, Ukraine launched its deepest-ever attack into Russia, targeting two Arctic gas condensate facilities more than 3,000km (1,865 miles) from its border. Another attack on Sunday forced a Moscow oil refinery to halt crude processing.

Russia also slammed ⁠⁠jet-powered drones into two petrol stations and other sites in Kyiv, killing ⁠⁠one and injuring at least seven people on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has been pushing for an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine, blaming the war between the two as one reason behind skyrocketing fuel prices.

Zelenskyy called for sustained economic pressure, saying the money Russia earned through trade “gives this war more time”.

“And that is exactly why we insist on limiting trade with the aggressor, and why we are burning Russia’s revenues ourselves,” he said.

Last week, Trump signed into law a sweeping sanctions package targeting Russia over its war in Ukraine, days after US Congress sent the bill to the White House with rare bipartisan support .

On Wednesday, Zelenskyy also claimed that nationals of 47 countries are fighting alongside Russia in Ukraine, mentioning the two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region last year, who were sent to South Korea by Kyiv.

“Why should Koreans give their lives in a war in Ukraine?” he asked.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that Moscow is prepared to negotiate towards a lasting peace with Ukraine, but won’t just “pause” the war, arguing that such a pause would buy Ukraine and its backers time to line up more weapons.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says both Russia and Ukraine have expressed interest in a limited ceasefire that would halt attacks on grain shipments and each country’s energy sectors.

乌克兰总统敦促世界各国领导人继续切断俄罗斯的收入来源，以阻碍其战争行动。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基周三在纽约联合国总部向联合国大会发表讲话。[查理·特里巴洛/法新社]

乌克兰总统泽连斯基在联合国大会上发表讲话，指出俄罗斯总统普京是导致两国持续战争的原因，并敦促世界各国领导人继续对莫斯科施加经济压力。

泽连斯基说：“近五年来，俄罗斯的将军们一直在试图执行普京的疯狂战争。”他还补充说，除了一个人之外，没有人公开支持这场战争。

泽连斯基表示，俄罗斯在过去八个月里在乌克兰损失了 24.8 万名士兵，今年“夺取了我们略多于 1000 平方公里（386 平方英里）的领土”。

“普京每公里就动用248个人。还有人觉得他聪明吗？”他说道，并补充说，这些数字“不仅仅是统计数据，这关乎人”。

他说：“我们有成千上万俄罗斯人在杀戮区丧生的影像资料。这正是普京想要的。”

泽连斯基说：“似乎总有什么事阻止普京说‘够了，够了，和平吧’。你能想象他没有战争的样子吗？他是‘零号病人’，战争就是从他身上不断蔓延开来的。‘零号病人’必须被阻止。”

泽连斯基表示，他预计俄罗斯将在未来几个月加大对乌克兰的轰炸力度，乌克兰人民已做好迎接严冬的准备。

他说：“乌克兰人明白，这个冬天对我们来说可能会非常严酷，但作为回应，我们别无选择，只能让俄罗斯也感受到严酷的冬天。”

本月，乌克兰对俄罗斯发动了迄今为止最深入的袭击，目标是位于北极地区的两个凝析气设施，距离其边境超过3000公里（1865英里）。周日发生的另一起袭击迫使莫斯科一家炼油厂停止原油加工​​。

周三，俄罗斯还出动喷气式无人机袭击了基辅的两座加油站和其他地点，造成一人死亡，至少七人受伤。

与此同时，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普一直在推动俄罗斯和乌克兰之间实现“能源停火”，并将两国之间的战争归咎于燃料价格飙升的原因之一。

泽连斯基呼吁持续施加经济压力，称俄罗斯通过贸易赚取的资金“让这场战争有了更多时间”。

“正因如此，我们才坚持限制与侵略者的贸易，也正因如此，我们才要自己消耗俄罗斯的收入，”他说。

上周，特朗普签署了一项针对俄罗斯在乌克兰战争中的全面制裁法案，此前几天，美国国会罕见地以两党支持将该法案提交白宫。

周三，泽连斯基还声称，有 47 个国家的国民在乌克兰与俄罗斯并肩作战，他提到了去年在俄罗斯库尔斯克地区被乌克兰军队俘虏的两名朝鲜士兵，基辅方面将他们送往了韩国。

他问道：“为什么韩国人要在乌克兰战争中牺牲生命？”

俄罗斯外交部长谢尔盖·拉夫罗夫周三在联合国安理会表示，莫斯科准备与乌克兰进行持久和平谈判，但不会仅仅“暂停”战争，他认为这样的暂停会给乌克兰及其支持者争取时间来准备更多武器。

与此同时，美国国务卿马可·卢比奥表示，俄罗斯和乌克兰都对有限停火表示了兴趣，以停止对粮食运输和两国能源部门的袭击。