News reports say that the war on Ukraine, and the need for stronger sanctions on Russia, will top today’s meeting with US President Trump and German Chancellor Merz, Ukrainians are demanding action.
As Ukraine slipped from headlines due to a news focus on war in Iran and the Middle-East in recent days, Russia continues to pummel Ukraine with daily rocket and drone attacks, continuing over four years of daily brutal war. Russia and its leader, Putin, have been clearly implicated in up to 150,000 horrific war crimes, as witnessed by the world in places like Bucha or Irpin in 2022, and continuing today. Yesterday saw further drone and rocket attacks in Ukrainian civilian areas as well as yet another Russian targeted attack on a civilian train, with multiple casualties, including a 10-year-old girl.
Dr Svitlana Romanko, Founder and Executive Director of Razom We Stand, said about the US President,
“We’ve heard from Republican politicians for a year that President Trump is soon going to sign ‘bone-breaking’ sanctions on Russia, yet he has so far not delivered on that promise, nor on his past one to end Russia’s war within 24 hours. The US is the strongest global power, and actually does have the might to dry up Russia’s war chest if President Trump chooses to choke off Russia’s fossil fuel exports, the main funding source for Putin’s brutal war. Yet, the White House continually appears to TACO. President Trump instead consistently rewards the violent aggressor, Putin, instead of punishing the leader who has brought so much human suffering to Ukraine, which proudly stands and fights for our independence and freedom.”
Dr Romanko stated about Germany;
“The German Chancellor Merz has provided support to Ukraine which we are thankful for, but why does Germany continue to help fund Putin’s war by buying billions of euros worth of Russian LNG gas? The German company SEFE should not be allowed to import Russian fossil fuels, and Germany should show more resolve by confiscating Russian “shadow fleet” tankers in the Baltic Sea. Germany must provide real leadership in Europe, by pushing for a complete Maritime Services ban at the European level to ensure that funding for Putin’s ongoing brutality is dried up, forcing Russia to finally seek a real peace.”
Razom We Stand encourages both the USA and Germany to take simple actions to end the longest and most brutal war in Europe since World War II:
- Introduce a full and transparent embargo on all Russian LNG gas, especially those from Russia’s arctic Yamal LNG fields
- Close transit and transshipment loopholes with a strong Maritime Services ban
- Tougher enforcement with ship inspections and seizures, like the US, UK, France and Germany are already doing inconsistently.
- Closing the refining loophole: ban on imports of oil products from refineries in third countries that process Russian crude oil.
