"This Is the Only Way for Them to Understand": Zelensky Convinces the West to Close Borders to Russians

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is persuading Western countries to shut down their borders to Russian citizens, insisting that this is the only way to make them feel part of the responsibility for the actions of the Russian leadership and push Putin to end the war.

"I said from the very beginning that I believe that the most important sanctions are to close the borders because they are taking away someone else's territory. Well, let them live in their own world until they change their philosophy. So, countries close the borders and put an embargo on energy resources. My personal opinion is that everything else is weaker," Washington Post cites Zelensky.

He noted that now all Russians, regardless of their opinion on the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine, can travel abroad, and their children can study there.

"Let them go to Russia. They'll just understand then. They say, "Oh, we have nothing to do with this, and all people can't bear the responsibility." They can. They elected these people, and now they are not fighting them, they do not argue with them and don't shout at them. The Russians who publicly oppose the war are just isolated cases and these people are in prisons. But let Russians go home, let everyone go to Russia. You want this isolation, don't you? You're telling the whole world that the whole world will live by your rules. Okay, then go there and live there.

What does this give us? This is the only way to influence Putin. Because this person has no other fear but the fear for his life. And his life depends on whether he is threatened by his internal population or not. Nothing else is threatening to him. That's the way it is. Therefore, when its population puts pressure on his decisions, then there will be results," said Volodymyr Zelensky.

Some European countries want to ban Schengen tourist visas for Russians due to the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

There is currently no consensus on this issue in the EU. Thus, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz argues that banning Russians will make life difficult for dissidents, although he did not reject to discuss this matter.

The Estonian authorities have made a decision to ban Russian citizens with Estonia-issued Schengen visas from entering its territory, with some exceptions. The Finnish government decided on Tuesday to reduce the number of tourist visas granted to Russian citizens by 90%.