Partner countries must continue to take 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 the introduction of additional sanctions against the Russian Federation.
He emphasized that sanctions against the aggressor state are working, and called on partners to increase pressure, particularly targeting Russia’s energy sector.
The Head of the Office of the President noted that the meetings held by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his visits to Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom demonstrated a shared consensus among partner countries to maintain and strengthen sanctions.
"But the war continues, and consensus alone is not enough. We need real action. Europe is moving forward. Since the beginning of this year, the EU has adopted two new sanctions packages, the United Kingdom – six packages, and Canada – four. New sanctions are also being prepared by countries that have previously refrained from imposing any, such as New Zealand and Austria," Andriy Yermak stated.
The Head of the Presidential Office underlined that the position of the United States is especially important when it comes to sanctions pressure.
"There was a very good bilateral meeting between President Zelenskyy and President Trump on the sidelines of the NATO Summit. You can feel that the principle of ‘peace through strength’ – especially after the successful outcome of the Iran-Israel conflict – is increasingly becoming central to U.S. policy," Andriy Yermak said.
According to him, sanctions have already slowed Russia’s GDP growth to 1.6%, reduced oil and gas revenues by 14% since the start of the year, and pushed up public debt by 708 billion rubles in June alone.
“No one plans to slow down. Our international sanctions group is working every day. We analyze all sanctions that are introduced. We provide recommendations. We've already released the fourth comprehensive document that outlines all sanctions, particularly what is working and what is not,” he noted.
