Zelensky on attempts to lift Russia sanctions: "You are losing money. We are losing people!"

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has turned to international partners who are considering lifting economic restrictions earlier imposed on the Russian Federation over aggression in Ukraine: "You are losing money. We are losing people!"

"I won't get tired of repeating to all our foreign partners who have been helping us (for which I'm very grateful) but who sometimes consider lifting sanctions: 'You're losing money, seriously? Sorry, we're losing people," Zelensky said during the 16th annual meeting of the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in Kyiv, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

According to Zelensky, sanctions are a "powerful weapon."

He said paying taxes is a norm in a civilized world, introduced, including, for the sake of maintaining order.

"Sanctions are actually the same hard taxes required for maintaining world order. This is a tax for the sake of peace, and sanctions must be maintained until it is restored," the president said.