Russia may feign diplomacy to derail new sanctions decisions by Ukraine’s allies, - Sybiha
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has called for vigilance regarding Russia’s attempts to use diplomacy as a pretext to thwart new sanctions imposed by Ukraine’s allies.
This has been reported by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Censor.NET.
Russia’s false diplomacy
"Over recent years, one pattern has become clearly evident: whenever new, large-scale sanctions are on the horizon, particularly from the US, Putin does everything in his power to buy time. His favourite tool? False diplomacy, staged telephone calls and meetings without any genuine intentions," the minister noted.
According to him, given that Senator Graham’s bill on sanctions is due to be considered as early as next week, it is essential to remain vigilant. Russia may try to thwart its adoption by pretending that it is genuinely interested in peace.
Pressure on the Russian Federation
Sybiha also called for increased pressure to be brought to bear on Russia.
"Stepping up sanctions pressure on Moscow is not just a matter of urgency – it is vital to counter Russian terror and force Russia to bring this war to a genuine end," he said.
The Graham-Blumenthal Bill: what do we know?
The Graham-Blumenthal Bill (Sanctioning Russia Act) is a cross-party initiative by US Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (Democrat), aimed at significantly increasing economic pressure on Russia and its trading partners. Following Graham’s death, his co-authors are continuing to push the bill forward.
Key provisions of the draft bill:
- the imposition of sanctions against the Russian Federation’s leadership, state-owned banks, the energy sector and the so-called ‘shadow fleet’;
- granting the US President the power to impose secondary tariffs of up to 100 per cent on countries that continue to purchase significant volumes of Russian oil, gas and other energy resources. The initial version referred to 500 per cent, but following negotiations, the document was amended to a maximum of 100 per cent;
- Provision is made for the President to temporarily defer the application of certain sanctions or duties if this is in the national interest of the United States.
