Date: 2025-08-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00028989
UKRAINE
GOOD ADVICE FROM UKRAINE
Opinion: How to shut down Putin’s war machine
President Trump’s warnings to Russia are welcome.
But pressure must follow for peace to be possible.
GOOD ADVICE FROM UKRAINE
Opinion: How to shut down Putin’s war machine
President Trump’s warnings to Russia are welcome.
But pressure must follow for peace to be possible.
Original article:
President Trump’s warnings to Russia are welcome. But pressure must follow for peace to be possible.
August 4, 2025
An explosion of a missile lights up the sky over Kyiv during a Russian missile strike on July 31. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
By Andriy Yermak
Andriy Yermak is head of the presidential office of Ukraine.
Later this week, the world might be presented with an opportunity to end the war Russian President Vladimir Putin has been waging against Ukraine.
President Donald Trump has made it clear that Russia will soon face serious consequences if it doesn’t immediately come to the negotiating table. By cutting back the previous 50-day window to just 10 days last week, the U.S. president sent an unmistakable signal to Putin. These signals need to be followed up with decisive action for the war to end.
“We thought we had that settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever,” Trump said. “And I say that’s not the way to do it.”
Kyiv welcomes this clarity. We thank Trump for his firm and unmistakable commitment to peace through strength. It is a commitment we share. President Volodymyr Zelensky has made it the foundation of Ukraine’s resistance, and it is Ukrainian strength that has kept our nation alive. This strength is the only language Putin understands.
Russia’s military-industrial complex needs to be better targeted. Entities such as Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear agency, and Roscosmos, its space agency, are not neutral civilian institutions, but strategic enablers of Putin’s war. Rosatom underpins nuclear weapons development and facilitates the occupation of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Roscosmos provides satellite imagery and communications that guide Russian missile strikes. Both agencies must be sanctioned in full and banned from cooperating with Western scientific and academic institutions.
More must also be done to cut off Russia’s access to international finance. Disconnecting some Russian banks from SWIFT, the backbone of global financial communications, in 2022 was a milestone. But one major financial institution, Gazprombank, remains connected, serving as a major conduit for sanctioned trade, particularly in energy and defense-related goods. Gazprombank must be disconnected alongside any smaller financial institutions trying to fill the gap.
A full economic blockade is needed. Russia imports billions worth of microchips and electronics used in its drones and missiles through China and other smaller countries across Central Asia. These components often originate in the West but reach Russia via circuitous trade routes and financial loopholes. We are greatly encouraged by recent U.S. actions to crack down on sanctions evasion. The bipartisan Graham-Blumenthal bill marks a strong step toward imposing secondary sanctions on entities in third countries that help fund Russia’s war machine.
In addition, Trump’s decision last week to raise tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil above the price cap surely rattled the Kremlin. It’s a great first step, but more pressure is needed. The International Working Group on Russian Sanctions, which I’m honored to co-chair, has developed a set of targeted proposals that can do just that. Those include imposing sanctions on Russian ports used for exporting oil; designating operators of the shadow fleets of oil tankers, including vessels that disable tracking systems and use ship-to-ship transfers to obscure origin; and targeting intermediaries in the defense supply chain, including crypto infrastructure such as exchanges and wallets used for illicit payments and sanctions evasion.
Russia’s war against Ukraine poses broader dangers for the world. When a fire rages this ferociously, one must act before its flames consume everything. Trump’s latest statements suggest he has seen through the smoke and understands the stakes. The ultimatum he has given to Putin expires later this week. Thousands of lives depend on the success of what follows. The tools to stop Russia exist. What is needed is the political will to use them with precision and force.
About guest opinion submissions The Washington Post accepts opinion articles on any topic. We welcome submissions on local, national and international issues. We publish work that varies in length and format, including multimedia. Submit a guest opinion or read our guide to writing an opinion article. Post Opinions also thrives on lively dialogue. If you have thoughts about this article, or about anything The Post publishes, please submit a letter to the editor. What readers are saying The comments reflect skepticism about the effectiveness of sanctions, particularly secondary sanctions, in stopping Russia's war efforts. Many commenters argue that sanctions alone are insufficient and emphasize the need for stronger military support for Ukraine, including... Show more This summary is AI-generated. AI can make mistakes and this summary is not a replacement for reading the comments.
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