BRUSSELS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Friday that up to 20 million Ukrainians could be forced to flee to Europe if his country falls to Russia.
“Russia is killing us,” Zelensky told reporters at a news conference Friday at a summit of European Union leaders, adding that Ukrainians were being “pushed” out of their country. “They (Russia) don’t want to stop.”
As Russia’s full-scale invasion began, millions of Ukrainians fled their homes in Europe’s fastest-growing and largest refugee crisis since World War II. Today, more than 4 million Ukrainians live in EU countries with temporary protection status, with the largest populations in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, according to Eurostat.
Zelensky’s stark warning comes as Ukraine heads into a brutal fifth winter of war under Russian bombardment. kyiv will face a budget deficit of $30 million to $35 million next year, according to International Monetary Fund projections – even taking into account a 90 billion euro loan that Brussels agreed to provide last year.
Ukraine’s president traveled to Brussels to meet European leaders and boost financial support for his struggling country. Even though the EU is Ukraine’s strongest supporter, the bloc’s priority list is filled with rising energy costs, looming elections, geopolitical crises and an impasse over its 2 trillion-euro budget.
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