Ukraine’s sanctions policy must meet EU standards – Head of ILI on Ukrainian Radio

Head of ILI Tetiana Khutor spoke on Ukrainian Radio about the effectiveness of anti-Russian sanctions on the fourth anniversary of the full-scale war

Ukraine needs to systematize its sanctions policy and align it with the standards of the EU, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This was stated by the Head of the Institute of Legislative Ideas, Tetiana Khutor, on Ukrainian Radio.

“Sanctions are not only a tool of foreign policy but also an element of national security that requires institutional capacity, coordination, and resources. This is also what Europeans expect from us in order to strengthen cooperation,” the expert said.

According to her, recently the focus of the sanctions coalition countries has shifted from adopting new packages to strengthening the practical implementation of sanctions against Russia. In particular, this concerns combating the so-called “shadow fleet” and intercepting vessels used to circumvent restrictions. Large-scale sanctions evasion schemes worth tens of billions of dollars have been documented.

“The estimated volume of schemes involving Russia’s shadow fleet is around $90 billion. This is almost identical to the amount of financial assistance that the EU has raised for us with significant effort. Effectively stopping such schemes and confiscating the assets could become an additional source of funding for Ukraine’s budgetary needs,” Tetiana Khutor noted.

She believes that despite differing assessments, sanctions are already weakening Russia. The restrictions could be even more effective with better implementation, coordination among partners, and systematic work at both the international and national levels.

“Overall, more resources are now being invested in establishing mechanisms for sanctions implementation. However, it will not be enough to simply issue another sanctions package. Resources must be directed to ensure that this package actually works,” the Head of ILI emphasized.

According to Tetiana Khutor, another persistent problem is the continued purchase of Russian energy resources by certain European states. At the same time, financial support for Ukraine from the EU has been unprecedented in scale. Nevertheless, frozen Russian assets have not yet been transferred to Ukraine – they are planned to be used for future reparations after the war ends.