Partner countries must continue taking concrete steps to strengthen sanctions pressure on Russia so that the aggressor state continues to feel the cost of war. This was stated by the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, during the Fair Play conference dedicated to imposing additional sanctions against the Russian Federation.
He emphasized that sanctions against Russia are working and called on partners to increase sanctions pressure, particularly on Russia’s energy sector.
The Head of the President’s Office noted that the meetings held by President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visits to Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom demonstrated consensus among partner countries on maintaining and strengthening sanctions.
“But the war continues, and consensus alone is not enough. We need real action. Europeans are moving forward. Since the beginning of this year, the EU has introduced two new sanctions packages, the UK – six packages, Canada – four. New sanctions are being prepared by countries that previously took a stance against sanctions – New Zealand, Austria,” Yermak said.
The Head of the President’s Office stressed the particularly important role of the US in sanctions pressure.
“There was a very good bilateral meeting between President Zelensky and President Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit. It feels like the principle of ‘peace through strength,’ especially after the success in the conflict between Iran and Israel, is increasingly becoming leading US policy,” said Yermak.
According to him, thanks to sanctions, Russia’s GDP growth has slowed to 1.6%, oil and gas revenues of the Russian state have decreased by 14% since the beginning of the year, and the state debt rose by 708 billion rubles in June.
“No one intends to stop. Our international sanctions group works every day. We analyze all the sanctions that are introduced. We give recommendations. We have already released the fourth comprehensive systemic document describing all the sanctions – what works and what doesn’t,” he noted.
