Zelensky Calls For Regime Change In Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the international community on Thursday to pursue “regime change” in Russia, warning that unless President Vladimir Putin is removed, Moscow will continue to destabilize its neighbors.

Zelensky made his remarks during an online address at a conference hosted by Finland, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act—a Cold War-era agreement aimed at improving relations between East and West.

“I believe the war, which Russia initiated, can be stopped if there is enough pressure,” Zelensky stated. “But if the world does not work towards changing the regime in Russia, Moscow will persist in destabilizing neighboring countries even after the war ends.”

The Ukrainian leader also called for the seized Russian assets frozen abroad to be actively used against Russia’s war efforts.

“We must completely dismantle Russia’s war machinery by using every frozen Russian asset, including corruptly obtained wealth, to defend against Russian aggression,” he said.

“It’s time to confiscate these assets—not just freeze them—and redirect them to support peace, not conflict.”

Though invited to attend the Helsinki conference in person, Zelensky delivered his speech remotely. Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said last week that Russia would participate but would not send any high-level officials.

The Helsinki Final Act, signed on August 1, 1975, by 35 nations, including the Soviet Union and the United States, laid the foundation for cooperation through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which today comprises 57 member states.

Central to the agreement are principles such as state sovereignty, the non-use of force, and the inviolability of borders. The treaty explicitly states that “participating states regard as inviolable all one another’s frontiers… and will refrain from assaulting these frontiers now and in the future.”

Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, these principles have been severely undermined, triggering the most serious crisis in OSCE history.

“Putin’s prevailing idea—now mainstream in Russia—is that its borders are wherever it chooses them to be,” Zelensky said.

Ukraine has repeatedly called for Russia’s expulsion from the OSCE, though Russia remains a member state despite its parliamentary assembly’s suspension of Russian lawmakers in July 2024, citing alleged anti-Russian bias.

In response to a surge of about 1,000 migrants entering without visas, Finland closed its 1,340-kilometre eastern border with Russia in December 2023, accusing Moscow of orchestrating the influx—a claim Russia denies.