The key to successfully resisting Russian aggression is the heroism of the Ukrainian army and effective sanctions, which are being worked on by an international group of experts - Andriy Yermak

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak notes that the heroic resistance of the Armed Forces and Ukrainian society, as well as strong and effective international sanctions, which the "sanctions" group of experts is working on, are important for ending Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine. This is stated in his op-ed for NV.

"Russia's blitzkrieg against Ukraine has failed. The heroic efforts of our Armed Forces and society thwarted the Kremlin's plans. Numerous aggravations on the frontline await us. Russian troops will keep trying to advance deep into Ukraine. However, the

turning point has taken place, and now it is quite obvious that this war will no longer follow the Kremlin's plan," Andriy Yermak stressed.

The Head of the Office of the President noted that Ukraine is receiving more and more military-technical, humanitarian and financial assistance.

"Our troops receive effective weapons, and their range is steadily growing, and by joint efforts the issue of lend-lease is moving from the abstract-theoretical to the practical plane," he wrote.

Also, according to Andriy Yermak, thanks to the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities and foreign partners, the banking system is functioning stably. Utilities operate in the territories free from the occupiers, and the food situation is under control.

The Head of the Office of the President noted that the key to successfully resisting Russian aggression is not only the resilience, valor and motivation of Ukrainians and professional command, but also the second frontline - international sanctions. Due to the long-term effect, they should make it difficult for Moscow to pursue an aggressive policy in the future. This is one of the elements of guaranteeing our security, at least until the legally binding mechanisms of the new security architecture start working.

He explained the need to force Russia to focus on overcoming its internal problems. At the same time, we must not forget about the pressure on Russian oligarchs who must also be punished for supporting and financing the aggression. That is why President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy a few weeks ago initiated the creation of a "sanctions" international group of experts, which is working to assess the effectiveness of sanctions, find ways to optimize them and increase efficiency. The group chaired by the Head of the Office of the President and the well-known American diplomat Michael McFaul has already presented an Action Plan to strengthen sanctions.

In particular, Ukraine submitted to the European Energy Community a proposal to impose a full oil and gas embargo on Russia. This item in the Plan proposed by experts is number one, because, according to the results of three quarters of last year, energy accounted for 34.5% of Russian budget revenues.

The Plan also offers to include Russia in the FATF blacklist along with Iran and the DPRK, impose comprehensive sanctions against Russian and Belarusian banking institutions, trade restrictions on their goods, and expand transport and insurance-related restrictions.

Another line of pressure is recognizing Russia and Belarus as states - sponsors of terrorism, and the Russian army and political parties as terrorist organizations.

Andriy Yermak also noted the importance of introducing a mechanism of secondary sanctions against those individuals and companies who try to make money by providing services to circumvent primary sanctions.