The world must strike at the “shadow fleet” to stop the war, — Zelenskyy
9.06.2025 - 11:12
The President of Ukraine stressed that blocking Russian schemes to circumvent oil restrictions is the key to stopping the war.
Strikes on the oil sector and the elimination of sanctions circumvention schemes are critically important for economic pressure on the Kremlin. Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated this to ABC News.
“His (Putin’s — ed.) economy depends on oil, on energy, and we need to impose sanctions as soon as possible. We have lost many years. We could have introduced energy restrictions and maximum prices for (Russian — ed.) oil — $30, no higher. We have lost three years. We gave them this money. They sold a large amount of energy to China, India, Brazil and others,” Zelenskyy stressed.
As the President noted, without further tightening of sanctions and effective control over their implementation, Russia will continue to finance aggression.
Zelenskyy recalled that after the introduction of EU oil sanctions in December 2022, Moscow assembled a “shadow fleet” of outdated and often uninsured vessels to circumvent price restrictions.
Despite the introduced ceiling price of $60 per barrel, Russian oil continues to enter world markets. This forces European countries to look for new ways to combat this scheme.
“It is not a victory when you spend a million people to gain a few thousand kilometers,” Zelenskyy also emphasized, recalling the real price of the war for Russia and Ukraine.
He warned that Russia’s victory will only be possible if the West stops supporting Ukraine. But under current conditions, Putin will not be able to win the war if the international community remains united.
The day before, USM reported that Russian tankers are still making direct flights to EU ports.
