Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha believes that the latest sanctions imposed by the EU and the US are a real blow to Russia, although Moscow denies this.

Source: Sybiha on Facebook, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Sybiha believes that this week marked a new stage in the pressure to force Russia to make peace, given that the EU has agreed on a strong 19th sanctions package that hits Russian energy, the shadow fleet and ways of circumventing sanctions, and the Trump administration has also applied its first sanctions against Moscow, hitting energy giants Rosneft and Lukoil.

"It's telling that the Russians immediately rushed to say that they don't care about the sanctions. Putin claims that everything is fine with the Russian economy. His propagandists are repeating their mantras that the sanctions have no effect. The more of this bravado there is, the more obvious it is that the opposite is true," he noted.

Sybiha believes the first US sanctions against Russia of Trump's second term "draw an important strategic line" and warned that Russian leaders should abandon any hope of Western weakness or a chance to deceive the US.

"Russia has actually been hoping all this year that Ukraine would lose the support of its partners or be forced to accept Russian conditions that were close to capitulation. None of this happened," Sybiha stated.

Background:

• Following the announcement of the new US sanctions, Indian refineries reportedly began checking their suppliers, and some Chinese companies have paused purchases of Russian oil at least temporarily.
• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said he will be seeking ways to bypass the sanctions in order to retain Russian energy supplies. Trump replied that he is aware his actions may not please everyone, but said "I am the only one that matters."
• Reuters reported that Trump has prepared further sanctions that could be imposed on key sectors of the Russian economy if Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin continues to stall on ending the war.

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