The Ukrainian president appeals to China to force Russia to stop its “aggression”

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday, that his country doesn’t currently have strong contacts with Beijing, but he would like to get help from the Chinese side, along with American, British and European partners in order to force Russia to stop its aggression.

Zelensky’s statement came in an interview with French media.

“Before the massive invasion, there were contacts between Ukraine and China at different levels,” Zelensky said…But unfortunately, we don’t have a strong connection with China at the moment… I feel sorry for that”.

The Ukrainian president noted that China is a large country with a huge economy, and also has great geopolitical influence in relation to the Russian Federation.

“Russia doesn’t care about all countries, but it pays attention to China,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky continued, “So I would like China to be on our side… We now see that Beijing has taken a balanced position somewhere in the middle, and I am grateful that China doesn’t sell arms to the Russian Federation”.

The Ukrainian president stressed that he wants China to help Kyiv, adding that the Chinese are already helping Ukraine achieve peace by not sending their weapons to Russia.

“When I say that the whole world should unite and force Russia to end the war, I think that a union like the United States, the European Union, Great Britain and China, would undoubtedly force the Russian Federation,” Zelensky concluded.

On Saturday evening, Zelensky went directly to Russian citizens, telling them that their president, Vladimir Putin, knowingly sent “his compatriots to death”.

“The Russian government is fully aware that it is sending its own citizens to death,” Zelensky said in Russian.

Addressing the Russian soldiers, he added, a few hours after Moscow issued a law tightening penalties against those who voluntarily flee, “You’ll be treated in a civilized manner… No one will know the circumstances of your surrender”.

In the interview, Zelensky said that he was “shocked” that Israel hadn’t provided Kyiv with anti-missile systems to help counter Russian attacks.

Zelensky requested these weapons shortly after the start of the war in February.

He referred to Israel’s Iron Dome system, which is often used to intercept rockets fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

“I don’t know what happened to Israel… I’m honestly shocked because I don’t understand why they couldn’t give us air defenses” he said.