Soon Russia will be worse than North Korea, we expect an internal front in Russian Federation – Kuleba (Head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

"EUROPEAN PRAVDA" — SUNDAY, 6 MARCH 2022, 16:13

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, believes that Russia's unprecedented actions are developing at such a pace that it will soon surpassthe level of the world's toughest dictatorship, North Korea.

He stated this at a briefing in Kyiv on Sunday.

Kuleba stressed that foreign governments and Western business have reacted to the Russian aggression and this reaction has already become painful for Russia. "The domino effect has started. This is just the beginning of suffering and painful losses for Russia. Russia is learning what real isolation is. 113 giant companies have already left Russia, and 213 large companies have partially or completely stopped working with Russian partners," he said.

Kuleba assured that this pressure will increase.

Yet he was not satisfied with the level of sanctions inmposed by the Visa and MasterCard payment systems.

"Some loopholes remain to allow operations to continue... We will put pressure on Visa and MasterCard to stop working in Russia completely," the minister said. He announced the message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine naming those companies that are reluctant to stop working in Russia.

At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs anticipates an internal front initiated by Russian citizens in response to the draconian restrictions imposed in Russia.

"It is becoming impossible to live in Russia and not because of the war… At this rate, North Korea will look like a free country compared to Russia," Kuleba said. Last week Russia enacted a criminal penalty of up to 15 years imprisonment for sharing truthful information on the war in Ukraine if they differ from the Russian propaganda line.

"Hundreds of thousands of Russians do not want to live like this. We are already seeing anti-war demonstrations," the minister added.

To learn more details on how the sanctions will work, watch the EP video "When will sanctions overthrow Russia? What will change for the Russians? Will China save? Let's explain"