President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to apply restrictive measures against the owner of a number of TV channels was justified and legal, supported by Ukraine's international partners.
"The decision of the National Security and Defense Council is legal, logical, justified and, most importantly, fair. And it is fully supported by the United States, the European Union and the G7 countries, which clearly see the difference between censorship and protection of national interests," the President noted in his vlog.
The President said that as a man who had worked on television for more than 20 years, whose concerts, movies and TV series had been banned, who hated censorship and knew what it was like to protect freedom of speech, he had decided on sanctions for good reasons.
"If someone forgot - Russia annexed Crimea, and part of our territory is occupied today, I'm sure it's temporary. And all those for whom business with these territories is normal, those for whom maintaining ties with illegal formations and pseudo-structures in these territories is normal pose a threat to our country. So, the country will fight them. And this is also normal. And as President, I am obliged and will act by any legal means available to me to neutralize such threats. In particular, with the help of sanctions," Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.
The President reminded that the Law "On Sanctions" had come into force in 2014, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. That is why, in strict accordance with this law, as well as the Constitution of Ukraine, based on the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of 2018 and the data of the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Security and Defense Council decided to impose sanctions against the owner of 112 Ukraine, ZIK, NewsOne and other TV channels.
According to him, these channels had "information armies", which professionally misled the population of Ukraine, in particular on land reform, tariff reductions and the war in Donbas.
"Earning money on the war, they convinced that there was no war. More precisely, there is, but it is civil. No, not in the sense that the citizens of Ukraine and Russia are at war, but that this is our internal conflict, quarrel, a little "skirmish",” the President said.
"This is the main reason for the termination of broadcasting - and the only one, not some criticism of me as President. Let's be honest - today the government faces criticism of all TV channels: both private and public, but not all channels are subject to sanctions from the authorities,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy added.
The President also responded to accusations of "green fascism" - the Head of State said that his grandfather had fought on the frontline during World War II, and his grandfather's brothers and their families had been killed by the Nazis.