First Sanctions Summit kicks off in Kyiv on Thursday
Representatives of 21 countries, including the United States, the UK and EU members, are taking part in the first Sanctions Summit, which began in Kyiv on Thursday.
"We have no illusions about the intentions of the Putin regime: they do not understand diplomacy, they only understand force. And I think that one of the most powerful tools we have is sanctions. And that is why it is great that we are talking about them here today," EU Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Maternova said at the opening of the summit.
As Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian President’s Plenipotentiary Advisor on Sanctions Policy, told reporters, during the two-day summit, its participants will discuss the impact of sanctions and the possibility of strengthening them in key sectors, such as the shadow fleet, energy, finance, as well as ways to reduce loopholes for circumventing sanctions.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, among other things, stressed the need for sanctions in the financial sector. "We are now observing how Russia is actively using cryptocurrencies and other financial schemes. The flow of funds reaches billions of dollars every month, so we need to find a solution to stop it, and I think this should and can be part of today’s discussion," she said.
The EU’s special envoy for sanctions enforcement, David O’Sullivan, agreed with the need for such sanctions, especially in the area of cryptocurrencies.
Vlasiuk added that the summit’s program also includes a visit by its participants to the Kyiv Institute of Forensic Science, where they will get acquainted with the means of destruction in which Russia uses foreign components due to the circumvention of sanctions.
In addition, on Friday, more than a dozen Ukrainian public organizations and think tanks working on sanctions issues will be involved in the work of the forum, the presidential representative said.
In his opinion, this is a good time to hold the summit, because the EU is currently preparing the 20th sanctions package.