Ukraine plans to impose sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil the most
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga announced his intention to initiate new restrictive measures against the countries that buy Russian oil the most and expressed support for these steps during the Fair Play conference dedicated to the introduction of additional sanctions against the Russian Federation. According to the diplomat, the Ukrainian side is closely monitoring the growth of trade turnover between some countries, in particular from Central Asia, and Russia. As Sybiga noted, the level of trade transactions in certain directions is growing significantly, and it is these countries that are becoming the main channel for the supply of Russian oil and other energy resources. He especially emphasized that many of these products have a dual purpose and are used by the Russian authorities to manufacture military equipment and weapons. Ukraine plans not only to call on its partners to participate more actively in sanctions measures, but will also independently respond to the situation by applying restrictions against those states that buy oil from Russia the most. The minister emphasized that special attention will be paid to countries that use a shadow fleet to transport resources, which complicates control over supplies. Sibiga also noted that Russian oil, gas and their refined products provide Russia with up to 50% of federal budget revenues, and this hidden economic component continues to be actively stored on world markets. In April 2023 alone, Russia received about $13 billion from the sale of energy resources, and daily income from the Kremlin's aggressive actions is estimated at about $1 billion. According to the Ukrainian minister, these figures prove that Russia still receives significantly more money than it spends on waging war against Ukraine, in particular on the purchase of necessary weapons and military equipment. As the diplomat noted, during the analysis of the destruction of missiles and drones shot down by the Ukrainian army, components from more than 19 countries of the world are constantly detected. This indicates large-scale international support for Russian militarization and the need to strengthen international sanctions measures. Sibiga called on all allies of Ukraine to strengthen their efforts and use all possible methods to limit Russia's access to critical components of the defense industry. He emphasized that "cutting off" Russia from foreign technologies and raw materials is one of the main ways of pressure to force Moscow to peace. In conclusion, he emphasized that the participating countries should activate their sanctions potential and use all available tools to stop the militarization of the Russian economy and reduce its ability to wage a protracted war against Ukraine.