Volodymyr Zelensky calls for banning Russian nationals from travel, supported by Estonia and Finland
The Kremlin on Tuesday condemned comments by Volodymyr Zelensky asking Western countries, in an interview with Washington Post, to deny their territory to Russian nationals, in reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Quoted by the American daily, the Ukrainian president believes that the Russians should be forced to “live in their own world until they change their philosophy”. “The people chose this government and they are not fighting it”, deplores Volodymyr Zelensky in this interview published on Monday evening. He adds : “You tell the whole world that they have to live by your rules. So go live there. This is the only way to influence Putin. »
“The irrationality of his thought surpasses all measure”reacted the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, during a conference call with journalists on Tuesday, adding: “This can only be seen in an extremely negative way. Any attempt to isolate Russia or the Russians is doomed to failure. » Sooner or later, Europe “will begin to wonder if Zelensky is doing everything right, and if his citizens should pay for his whims”added Dmitry Peskov.
The leaders of Estonia and Finland have in recent days made a demand similar to that of Mr Zelensky for European countries to stop issuing tourist visas to Russian citizens. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas wrote on Tuesday on Twitter what “ visiting Europe is a privilege, not a human right” and that he is “time to end tourism from Russia now”. A day earlier, his Finnish counterpart, Sanna Marin, told Finnish TV channel YLE that “It’s not fair that while Russia is waging an aggressive and brutal war of aggression in Europe, Russians can lead normal lives, travel to Europe, be tourists.”
Both countries border Russia and are members of the European Union (EU), which banned air travel from Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. But Russians can still travel overland to both countries and can then take flights to other European destinations. Some EU countries already no longer issue visas to Russians, including Latvia, which made the decision this month.
The issue of visas for Russian nationals is expected to be discussed at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers on August 31, YLE reported.