Ukraine hopes to strengthen European sanctions against Russia. These should include disconnecting SWIFT from Russia's largest banks and closing European ports to Russian ships.
The Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Igor Zhovkva has stated in an interview with TSN.
He also called on the European Union to freeze and confiscate Russian accounts in European banks and to consider refusing to issue visas to Russian citizens and even revoking existing ones.
According to Igor Zhovkva, Ukraine is also talking to the EU about an embargo on imports of Russian energy.
"We are talking about this on a daily basis with the EU leadership. But again, unfortunately, the decision-making process is quite slow. When President Macron said after the Versailles summit, well, let's get even more sanctions ready if the situation worsens…Our question to him: how many more lives of the Ukrainian citizens should be given, the children of Ukraine so that to have these sanctions? The President of Ukraine spoke about preventive sanctions before the war. Nobody did that. Sanctions began to be imposed only now when the war is going on, - said the deputy head of the OPU (Office of the president of Ukraine).
Only seven Russian banks have been disabled from SWIFT, but none of them includes the largest bank in Russia, Sberbank, and Gazprombank, which serves Gazprom.
According to British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Trass, Russia should be completely disconnected from the SWIFT system.
Today, the EU plans to impose a fourth package of sanctions, which will ban the import of steel products from Russia, the export of luxury goods to Russia, and any investment in oil production and refining in Russia.