Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States said Sunday the initial Russian offensive “was not successful” — but lamented Russian soldiers now have poured into her homeland and “are all over the place.”
In an interview on ABC News’ “This Week," Ambassador Oksana Markarova said Ukraine is “not ready to surrender,” despite “another difficult hard night and day.”
“The initial offensive was not successful ... we have Russian troops now all over the place and they're using missiles and heavy artillery and troops around the country to essentially target the civilian infrastructure, hospitals… kindergartens. Nothing is off limits to them,” she said, adding the nation has filed a war crimes lawsuit with The Hague.
“Ukrainian spirit is growing every day,” she added.
According to Markarova, “the devastation from the Russian actions and the war crimes is huge.”
“We're not ready to surrender. We're ready for any peace talks that would stop the war and would get them out of our country,” she said.
She also called for more sanctions against Russia — and urged U.S. businesses to cut off their dealings with Russia.
“We need Russia to clearly see … and feel it's not okay in the 21st Century to attack another country, a sovereign country, without any reason,” she argued.
“I would like to use this opportunity to call on American businesses. You know, this is a full-fledged unjust war. It's time for many American businesses to — I know how hard it is … It's time to think about saving reputations and not cooperating with a regime that will end up in The Hague for everything they've done and are doing now to Ukraine.”
“One of the most famous survivors of the Holocaust said you have to take sides,” she said, referring to the late Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1986.
“The silence or neutrality always helps the oppressor and never those oppressed,” she said. “ It's time to take sides. It's time to take Ukrainian's side.”
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Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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