Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged world leaders Wednesday to increase pressure on Russia by cutting its revenues and limiting its ability to continue the war against Ukraine.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin remains the main obstacle to ending what he called a “ridiculous and never-ending war.”
“Our target is Russia's ability to finance this war, to drag it out, to make it more brutal and more destructive,” Zelenskyy said. “Russia's finances and Russia's production are what must be stopped if Putin is to be stopped.”
He argued that when Russia continues to earn money from international trade, it has less incentive to pursue diplomacy.
“Russia's revenues must remain a target,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov clashed with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and European supporters of Ukraine during a UN Security Council meeting. Lavrov also met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the General Assembly to discuss the war.
US discusses possible limited ceasefire
Rubio later told reporters that Russia and Ukraine have shown interest in a limited ceasefire that would stop attacks on grain shipments and energy infrastructure.
Both countries are major grain exporters, while their energy facilities have increasingly come under drone and missile attacks.
Rubio said reaching even a limited agreement would be difficult but worthwhile. He noted that Zelenskyy has publicly supported such a proposal and said the United States would be willing to help implement it.
Russia's Foreign Ministry did not mention a possible partial agreement on grain shipments in its statement following the Lavrov-Rubio meeting. Instead, it repeated Moscow's position that the root causes of what it calls its “special military operation” must be addressed.
At the Security Council, Lavrov said Russia would not “pause” its military action, arguing that European countries would use such a pause to supply Ukraine with more weapons.
He also did not mention a possible grain or energy agreement. Lavrov described Ukraine's government as “terrorists” and said Russia's military operation was aimed at protecting its security and the rights of Russian speakers.
Lavrov is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Saturday.
Zelenskyy questions Putin's commitment to peace
Zelenskyy said Russia's actions raised doubts about whether Putin genuinely wants to end the fighting.
“Something always seems to stop Putin from saying, ‘That's it. Enough. Peace,’” he said.
“The more freedom Putin has to act, the more dangerous the world becomes for everyone else,” Zelenskyy added.
The war has affected countries far beyond Ukraine and Russia, disrupting global supplies of fuel, fertilizer and grain while deepening political divisions between Russia and Western countries.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, initially expecting to capture Kyiv within days. Ukraine resisted the invasion, and the war has continued for more than four years, with front-line positions in eastern and southern Ukraine remaining largely unchanged since last year.
Western analysts estimate that more than 500,000 Russian troops have been killed and that Ukraine has suffered more than 500,000 military casualties, including as many as 140,000 deaths. Neither Russia nor Ukraine publishes its own casualty figures.
Russia, Ukraine intensify drone attacks
Russia and Ukraine have increased their long-range drone and missile attacks in recent months.
Russian drones struck Kyiv on Wednesday, killing two people and injuring 23 others, according to Ukrainian officials. Two more people were injured in a strike that caused a major fire at a shopping mall in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had targeted Ukrainian military-industrial and energy facilities, logistics centers and sea vessels overnight.
The ministry also said Russian air defenses intercepted more than 500 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions, Crimea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine and illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014.
Zelenskyy calls for more pressure on Russia
Zelenskyy told the General Assembly that Russia had used about 63,000 attack drones of various types against Ukraine so far this year.
He said Ukraine had shown that it could continue defending itself despite facing a much larger military.
“Limit his money. Limit his war,” Zelenskyy told world leaders, urging them to prevent Russia from obtaining financial resources and foreign fighters.
He also said Ukraine needs to strengthen its military and has successfully tested four new jet-powered interceptor drones against Iranian-designed Shahed drones used by Russia.
Zelenskyy highlighted agreements and programmes with several countries involving drones and anti-ballistic missile systems.
He also warned about the growing role of artificial intelligence in warfare, saying autonomous weapons could eventually make battlefield decisions without direct human control.
“We need peace before we reach that point,” he said.
Zelenskyy rejected the idea that Ukraine wants war, saying its focus on weapons, defence and sanctions is a response to Russia's invasion.
“Ukrainians did not choose this war,” he said. “We choose not to die. … We are defending ourselves.”