PRESS RELEASE : Yermak-McFaul International Expert Group presents action plan to strengthen sanctions against Russia

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 20 April 2022.

Created pursuant to the initiative of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a group of Ukrainian and international experts who analyze the real impact of sanctions imposed on Russia presents an action plan to strengthen sanctions against the Russian Federation.

On Wednesday, April 20, the co-chairs of the expert group – Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak and Director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Former US National Security Adviser, Ambassador Michael McFaul – will present the Sanctions Action Plan to the public. The time of the presentation will be announced separately on social networks.

This document contains proposals to the international democratic community on a set of further economic measures aimed at forcing the Russian leadership to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible and maximize the price of aggression for Russia.

The plan focuses on 10 key areas of sanctions policy, including:

• Designating Russia and Belarus as states – sponsors of terrorism, and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation as a terrorist organization;
•  A complete ban on Russian energy exports;
• Expanding sanctions against the financial sector of Russia and Belarus;
• Enhancing transportation-related and insurance-related sanctions;
• Expanding and strengthening trade embargoes and personal sanctions.

The document also emphasizes the importance of introducing secondary sanctions and synchronizing the efforts of democratic countries in sanctions policy.

“This document will be the basis for further work of our government to increase sanctions pressure on Russia. We will offer our partners this list as a basis for coordinating the implementation of sanctions. By the way, the document itself contains provisions on the synchronization of sanctions pressure from democratic countries,” Andriy Yermak said.

The Head of the President’s Office thanked the expert group for its high efficiency and urged to continue the work.

“We need a quick implementation of all the proposals and a thorough assessment of their effectiveness,” he said.