The international working group on sanctions against Russia, headed by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and the director of the Freeman-Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), former national security adviser to the President of the United States Ambassador Michael McFaul, presented the second developed document – the Energy Sanctions Roadmap: recommendations on sanctions against the Russian Federation

This was reported in the office of the President.

“Following the presentation of the action plan to strengthen sanctions against Russia, the international expert group continued to work and prepared a document detailing the topic of energy sanctions, helping governments and companies around the world form proposals for sanctions policy against Russia. The application of energy sanctions should increase the cost of invading Ukraine for Russian Federation and help the Ukrainian state to protect the territorial integrity, freedom and democratic values,” the President’s Office noted.

The authors of the Energy Sanctions Roadmap draw attention to the fact that the Russian budget is based on revenues from the sale of energy resources, primarily to European countries. Since February 24, the European Union has been paying about $800 million daily. USA for the import of Russian oil and gas.

The document, in particular, contains recommendations for political actions that will help deprive Russia of this income, minimizing disruptions in the markets and the global economy, the OP says.

The expert group supports the decision of the European Commission regarding the introduction of a complete ban on the import of all Russian oil.

“Also justifies a gradual embargo on gas imports from the Russian Federation. Along with this, experts provide proposals, including specific mechanisms, on how to ensure a controlled phased implementation of such a ban, while minimizing revenues from Russian oil exports during the transition period. Such mechanisms can be considered separately countries as a priority. We are talking about a regulated import tax (or tariff) and keeping funds for energy resources in a special escrow account,” the OP said.

Special attention is paid to additional sanctions measures to prevent circumvention of restrictions imposed on the energy sector. In particular, these are targeted sanctions against maritime export service providers, bypassing the controlled sales regime.

In addition, the Roadmap proposes strategies to prevent the consequences of making Europe independent of Russian energy carriers and counteracting the use of energy resources as a weapon.

The document also notes the importance of cutting off Russia from financial flows from gas exports, since Europe during the war pays the Russian Federation for gas much more than for oil.

The expert group emphasizes that a European embargo on Russian energy should be part of a coordinated EU-US strategy that will include synchronized diplomatic moves and engagement with private sector stakeholders.

Members of the Yermak-McFaul International Expert Group call on governments, as well as public and private companies, to take the Roadmap as a basis for further public promotion of energy sanctions against Russia to deprive it of its ability to finance an aggressive and unjust war against Ukraine.

On May 9, US President Joe Biden signed the law on lend-lease for Ukraine , within the framework of which – an increase in the supply of weapons and an acceleration in the pace of providing them to Ukraine.

Recall that the Russian army, which has suffered heavy losses after a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, finds it difficult to replenish its stock of precision-guided munitions.

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