Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday (December 4) that European Union leaders were preparing a new sanctions package against Russia and that it must focus on tightening pressure on Moscow’s energy sector.

Speaking after meeting Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said the measures should target everything that fuels Russia’s budget and enables it to continue the war.

He said Ukraine is also "counting on Cyprus’s support for common European decisions regarding Russian assets".

Cyprus will hold the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from January 1, 2026 till June 30, 2026.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

New EU sanctions must target Russia's energy sector, says Zelenskiy

VIDEO SHOWS: UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY MEETING CYPRIOT PRESIDENT NIKOS CHRISTODOULIDES IN KYIV, UKRAINE

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: KYIV, UKRAINE (DECEMBER 4, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY MEETING CYPRIOT PRESIDENT NIKOS CHRISTODOULIDES

2. UKRAINIAN FLAGS

3. ZELENSKIY AND CHRISTODOULIDES ARRIVING FOR PRESS STATEMENTS

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY, SAYING:

"The leaders of the European Union are currently preparing a new sanctions package. We want to make it truly effective, which means, above all, maintaining pressure on Russia’s energy sector and on everything else that generates budget revenues for Russia and thus enables it to prolong this war."

5. VARIOUS OF ZELENSKIY AND CHRISTODOULIDES

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY, SAYING:

"We are counting on Cyprus’s support for common European decisions regarding Russian assets. It is an absolutely fair principle that Russia must pay for the war that it itself started and continues. The funds needed for defence and for recovery after Russian strikes should quite justifiably be taken from the amount that the aggressor has left in the hands of the free world."

7. ZELENSKIY AND CHRISTODOULIDES LEAVING

KYIV, UKRAINE (DECEMBER 4, 2025) (Ukrainian presidential press service - Access all)

8. ST. MICHAEL'S CATHEDRAL

9. ZELENSKIY AND CHRISTODOULIDES WALKING PAST WALL OF REMEMBRANCE

10. WALL OF REMEMBRANCE

11. ZELENSKIY AND CHRISTODOULIDES WALKING

12. GUARDSMAN

13. GUARDSMEN NEAR WALL OF REMEMBRANCE

14. VARIOUS OF ZELENSKIY AND CHRISTODOULIDES PAYING TRIBUTE