In thanking President Donald Trump for the threat of increased sanctions against Russia and a reduced timeline for a ceasefire in Ukraine, a top Ukrainian official said more is needed to "truly shift the war's trajectory."
Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office of Ukraine, contributed an opinion column on Monday to The Washington Post.
Yermak wrote that Trump's recent words about sanctions and a greatly reduced ceasefire deadline "sent an unmistakable signal" to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Kyiv welcomes this clarity. We thank Trump for his firm and unmistakable commitment to peace through strength," Yermak wrote. "It is a commitment we share. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made it the foundation of Ukraine's resistance, and it is Ukrainian strength that has kept our nation alive. This strength is the only language Putin understands."
Still, Yermak said more is needed to force Putin to stop the war, which began with an attack on Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow midweek, just before Trump's Friday deadline for the Kremlin to stop the killing or face potentially severe economic penalties from Washington.
"Trump's decision last week to raise tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil above the price cap surely rattled the Kremlin," Zelenskyy's chief of staff wrote. "It's a great first step, but more pressure is needed."
Yermak suggested:
- Sanctioning Russian ports used for exporting oil.
- Designating oil tanker operators who disable tracking systems and use ship-to-ship transfers to obscure origin.
- Targeting intermediaries, including crypto infrastructure, in the Russian defense supply chain.
The Ukrainian presidential office chief also requested severe sanctions for Moscow's military industrial complex, including nuclear agency Rosatom and space agency Roscosmos.
"Both agencies must be sanctioned in full and banned from cooperating with Western scientific and academic institutions," Yermak wrote.
He also said Gazprombank, a major financial institution, must be disconnected from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication as other Russian banks were in 2022.
"Gazprombank remains connected, serving as a major conduit for sanctioned trade, particularly in energy and defense-related goods," Yermak wrote. "Gazprombank must be disconnected alongside any smaller financial institutions trying to fill the gap."
Yermak also called for a "full economic blockade."
"Russia imports billions worth of microchips and electronics used in its drones and missiles through China and other smaller countries across Central Asia" he wrote. "These components often originate in the West but reach Russia via circuitous trade routes and financial loopholes."
The Ukrainian official said a bipartisan bill from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., "marks a strong step toward imposing secondary sanctions on entities in third countries that help fund Russia's war machine."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.