Hanna Hopko: Sanctions against Russia are Means of Pressure, but We Need a Strategy

Ukraine, together with the international community, has to develop a strategy of action against Russia aimed at putting an end to human rights violations in the Crimea and in Donbas. This is the opinion by Hanna Hopko, the Chairwoman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Affairs, expressed during the 11^th Kyiv Security Forum organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation Open.

“It looks so that the sanctions are not the strategy we would like to see. Sanctions are just a means of ensuring pressure and we should see a result,” she noted.

Hopko stressed that sanctions, for example, have affected the release of more than 70 Ukrainians captured in Donbas. At the same time, the number of Ukrainians imprisoned for political reasons in the Crimea is increasing.

“The situation is deteriorating and requires a collective response,” she noted.

Hopko further pointed to a direct interconnection between the violation of human rights in Russia and the gas monopoly of Gazprom, noting that the North Stream 2 project should be blocked.

“Should this project be implemented – it would increase Putin’s financial capabilities. And there will be a greater impact on the situation in Ukraine, including in the Crimea and Donbas,” – the MP believes.

In this context, she additionally stressed the need to develop a strategy with regard to Russia.

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The annual international event Kyiv Security Forum was launched by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation Open Ukraine in 2007 as a platform for high-level discussions on the current issues in Europe and the Black Sea region. The Forum aims at increasing security cooperation between the EU and the Black Sea region, raising awareness about regional developments among key regional players, promoting the role of independent and non-governmental actors in setting the security agenda in Europe.