Yermak proposes to increase pressure on Russia: World may get opportunity this week to end the war
Head of the President’s Office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, has announced the possibility of ending the war against Ukraine if pressure on the Russian Federation increases this week, and has proposed imposing sanctions on the Russian state agencies Rosatom and Roscosmos, disconnecting Gazprombank from SWIFT, and imposing sanctions on Russian ports.
“President Donald Trump has made it clear Russia will soon face serious consequences if it doesn’t immediately come to the negotiating table. By cutting back the previous 50-day window down to just 10 days last week, the U.S. president sent an unmistakable signal to Putin. These signals need to be followed up with decisive action for the war to end … Kyiv welcomes this clarity,” Yermak wrote in his article for The Washington Post, published on Monday.
He noted that Ukraine shares US President Donald Trump's commitment to peace through strength, and added that “this strength is the only language Putin understands.” “To truly shift the war’s trajectory, however, the existing sanctions regime must be sharpened,” the head of the President’s Office notes.
Among his proposals is a complete economic blockade of the Russian Federation. “Russia imports billions worth of microchips and electronics used in its drones and missiles through China and other smaller countries across Central Asia. These components often originate in the West but reach Russia via circuitous trade routes and financial loopholes. We are greatly encouraged by recent U.S. actions to crack down on sanctions evasion. The bipartisan Graham-Blumenthal bill marks a strong step toward imposing secondary sanctions on entities in third countries that help fund Russia’s war machine,” Yermak said.
He also notes that the Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom and the space agency Roscosmos “are not neutral civilian institutions, but strategic enablers of Putin’s war.” “Both agencies must be sanctioned in full and banned from cooperating with Western scientific and academic institutions,” the head of the President’s Office noted.
He also said more needs to be done to cut off Russia's access to international funding. “Disconnecting some Russian banks from SWIFT in 2022 was a milestone. But one major financial institution, Gazprombank, remains connected, serving as a major conduit for sanctioned trade, particularly in energy and defense-related goods. Gazprombank must be disconnected alongside any smaller financial institutions trying to fill the gap,” Yermak notes.
He praised Trump's decision to raise tariffs on India for buying oil from Russia above the price cap, but noted that more pressure was needed. “The International Working Group on Russian Sanctions, which I’m honored to co-chair, has developed a set of targeted proposals that can do just that. Those include sanctioning Russian ports used for exporting oil; designating operators of the shadow fleets of oil tankers, including vessels that disable tracking systems and use ship-to-ship transfers to obscure origin; and targeting intermediaries in the defense supply chain, including crypto infrastructure such as exchanges and wallets used for illicit payments and sanctions evasion,” the head of the President’s Office said.
Trump's recent statements, he said, show he understands the stakes. “The ultimatum he has given to Putin expires later this week. Thousands of lives depend on the success of what follows. The tools to stop Russia exist. What is needed is the political will to use them with precision and force,” Yermak summed up.
