Ukrainian MP Kira Rudyk: Ukraine needs weapons, funds and more sanctions against Russia

The show host Michał Sznajder asked Kira Rudyk whether Russia and its leader president Vladimir Putin were being isolated enough by the rest of the world, to which she replied: "Of course they’re not isolated enough".

"It’s only natural and expected that when European countries will be cutting all economic relations and putting on sanctions, Russia will be looking for new markets. But this is what the global approach and global strategy against Russia should be – to make them so toxic that no other countries would do business with them. Right now we see there are still countries who continue, and I think it is ok, to do business with the dictator, the one who is creating atrocities in Ukraine," said the member of Ukrainian parliament.

"The goal that we have is to make this would stop, same as trade with Russia for their energy resources. It’s very weird that countries who now strongly depend on Ukrainian wheat, grain and other food supplies still demand that they would get food from us, but cooperate with Russia. This is what we have seen at the World Economic Forum in Davos – this very weird economic approach. But this is also what we address with our international allies like Poland, the United States, Great Britain, and European countries, saying that we are ready to continue supplying the food to the BRICS countries, however one points should be that they would absolutely stop doing business with Russia," Rudyk added.

"So the question is not even in the support for Ukraine from the all the allies that we have, but actually in understanding and realising that is in their own benefit not to do business with Russia. Because Russia is not a reliable partner. Look, they cut Bulgaria and Slovakia off gas supplies, even though there was a contract in place," she argued.

Asked about the crucial needs Ukraine had that its allies could help to satisfy, Kira Rudyk replied: "There are three".

"The first is weapons, weapons, weapons and weapons. ...The second is sanctions. …Did you know that the 6th package of sanctions will only start working with the end of this year? So we can only start talking about sanctions in maybe March or April next year, if they will have an effect. ...The third is funds. We have a huge gap in our budget and we will be relying on our international partners and support for a while and we do understand that. And we need to ensure that this support is continued and predictable," the leader of the Ukrainian political party Voice said.

"And the last thing. I truly believe that the countries that support us, and we are grateful for that, they should not be taking money that they’re sending us from the pockets of the people, because there is enough Russian funds in the world that are frozen right now, which need to be unfrozen and sent over to Ukraine. We need to make sure that we just take Russian money from all over the world where we can find it, and send it to Ukraine to make Putin pay for his actions," she stressed.

Michał sznajder also asked the member of the Verkhovna Rada to share her thought on the situation in Ukraine after nearly four months of war against Russia. "We have enough strength and motivation in us to hold on for as long as it is necessary," she replied.

"And we will be fighting, and we will be pushing them back, we will be the shield of Europe. ... I assure you we will not be asking people to come fight for us, we are asking for support to continue fighting for our land. ... We already know that it will be a long war, and we are ready to fight it," Rudyk underscored.