13.02.23 / COP28 / Press Release

As the fossil-fueled invasion in Ukraine approaches one year, Ukraine group demands tightening of embargo on russia

Kyiv, Ukraine - As the tragic 1-year anniversary of russia's war comes on 24 February, Ukrainian Climate group Razom We Stand demands that concrete measures be taken to restrict exports of fossil fuels from the aggressor state and to keep russian oil and gas buried in the ground. The russian fossil fuel industry has to be eliminated from global markets in order to halt financial support for putin's war efforts. Specifically, weaknesses in existing embargoes and sanctions must be tightened.

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Kyiv, Ukraine - As the tragic 1-year anniversary of russia's war comes on 24 February, Ukrainian Climate group Razom We Stand demands that concrete measures be taken to restrict exports of fossil fuels from the aggressor state and to keep russian oil and gas buried in the ground. The russian fossil fuel industry has to be eliminated from global markets in order to halt financial support for putin's war efforts. Specifically, weaknesses in existing embargoes and sanctions must be tightened.

Svitlana Romanko, the Ukrainian Director of Razom We Stand, based in Ukraine, stated:
As the tragic one-year anniversary of the war approaches, the good will of many national leaders to stand with Ukraine must be turned from words into real actions. The USA and EU have led by example in creating effective embargoes and sanctions against russian oil, but these are full of gaping holes, and russia is still making millions daily to feed its brutal war machine. The world sees the continuing massive human suffering by people in my country everyday, yet the world directly funds this suffering when governments don't stop the money flowing to russia. We demand that global leaders tighten up sanctions, and introduce strict enforcement measures that hold violators accountable when they contribute to war crimes in Ukraine.” 

Tweet from @SvitlanaRomanko here:
As the tragic 1-year anniversary of war in #Ukraine approaches, #russia still makes millions daily, feeding its brutal war machine with revenues from exported #FossilFuels. 
We demand that global leaders tighten up #sanctions now!

"If world leaders want to be on the right side of history, the world will judge them by their actions, not their empty promises. The time for leaders to cut dirty oil, gas and coal money flows to russia is right now", says Romanko

Razom We Stand points to long existing strict sanctions that the USA has implemented against Iran and North Korea as concrete examples that could be followed. History shows that energy and technology sanctions can isolate dictatorships and terrorist states, so similar measures should be applied against russia now in full swing.

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Press Contact:
Jason Kirkpatrick, [email protected]
Snr. Communications Mgr., Razom We Stand