The head of the Office of the President called for a change of approach and a massive sanctions strike against the aggressor, reinforced with as many heavy weapons as possible.
Only this can force Russia to sit down at the negotiating table and engage in dialogue, he said during a video conference at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the Irish parliament.
"It is very difficult for us now. Five million people have left the country because of the fighting. There are an equal number of internally displaced people. Tens of thousands of civilians have died as a result of the Russian invasion. The war has taken 35% of Ukraine's GDP. We have lost more than 200 factories. Our direct losses already exceed $600 billion, despite all that Ukraine continues to defend itself, fierce fighting continues in the east and south, we must win, otherwise Ukraine will simply disappear as a nation and as a state. - Military, technical, political, financial or humanitarian," the head of the presidential office stressed.
Yermak stressed that the Kremlin cannot subdue Ukraine, so it has set about destroying it. The Russians are destroying the industrial and economic potential - regular missile and air strikes, artillery shelling of settlements and critical infrastructure are carried out for this very purpose.
The enemy army is systematically looting occupied areas. Hundreds of thousands of tons of grain have already been exported from the southern regions to Russia. At the same time, the Russian Federation refuses to provide green corridors for exports and blackmails the world community with food shortages, because before the war Ukraine was the guarantor of food security for 400 million people on the planet.
"This is the fourth type of blackmail the Kremlin has resorted to during its aggression against Ukraine. It was preceded by EU threats of energy starvation, a possible disaster at one of Ukraine's seized nuclear power plants and a strike with nuclear weapons. We do not know what else Russia's actions could lead to in its quest for domination. But we do know for sure: it must be stopped," Andriy Yermak stressed.
He welcomed the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, but noted that the EU was responding to the aggression with a batch build-up of sanctions and a gradual increase in arms deliveries to Ukraine.
"It is too long and inefficient. We propose a change of approach. Something should be done that the Russians do not expect. A massive sanctions strike, reinforced with a maximum number of heavy weapons for the Ukrainian Armed Forces would not only save thousands of lives. It would also avoid a protracted war, which Russia has already prepared for. We ask you to convey to your partners in the European Parliament the importance of this approach. We will also be grateful for political and any other assistance in obtaining the weapons that Ukraine needs", - the head of the presidential office stressed.
We shall remind you that the sixth package of sanctions was submitted by the EU back on 4 May, but it was agreed only on 31 May and in a modified form. Instead of a complete ban on the import of Russian oil, it was decided to give up only imports by sea (about 90%). Imports via the Druzhba pipeline will be allowed.
A political decision has been taken on this package, but it is still pending approval.