The support of Ukraine on the part of our Western partners should be more tangible, while the retaliatory sanctions policy against the aggressor must be prolonged and intensified. Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman stressed in an interview with the Slovak broadsheet SME. The interview took place in the framework of the working visit of the Head of Government to Slovakia on April 16, 2019.

Answering the question of whether Kyiv feels the EU support, the Head of Government replied, "Definitely, we need this support to be more tangible. We are talking about various economic, political, security measures."

The PM accentuated that everyone who these days is questioning the very fact of the hostilities in the east and the need to punish for the aggression isn’t just aware of the real situation.

"13,000 people died in Ukraine, 30,000 got injured and 1.5 million were forced to flee their homes. Those are probably mere words, but I invite you to visit Donbas and see first-hand what Russia has done in a democratic Ukraine. These threats jeopardize security in the entire democratic world. You are lucky to have a friendly Ukraine as your neighbor. We have luck as well to have Slovakia as our western neighbor, with sincere and open-minded people. In eastern Ukraine, we are rather unlucky to have Russia our enemy. Russia is a country that stirs up war, inflicts Ukraine", the Prime Minister said.

According to him, sanctions should be retaliatory. "Why are they introduced? For aggression. When will they be canceled? When the aggression stops. If we abolish sanctions against Russia, we will lift sanctions against the enemy. Those who turn the blind eye to Russian aggression are weak", the Prime Minister stressed. "Ukraine has never caused any damage to Russia. However, we caught an attack from Russia."