KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on March 22 called on international partners to ramp up sanctions against Russia, particularly targeting its shadow oil fleet, as US-Ukraine delegations convened for a second day of negotiations in Florida aimed at resolving the four-year war sparked by Moscow’s 2022 invasion.
The talks, which began March 21 without Russian participation, despite initial plans for Abu Dhabi,feature a US team led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Zelenskyy, who on March 21 stressed the need for ongoing dialogue toward an agreement, reiterated demands for stricter measures to choke Russia’s war funding.
“Revenues give Russia a sense of impunity and the ability to continue the war. That is why pressure must continue and sanctions must work,” Zelenskyy posted on X. He specifically targeted the shadow fleet: “Russia’s shadow fleet must not feel safe in European waters or anywhere else. Tankers that serve the war budget can and must be stopped and blocked, not just let go.”
This follows the French Navy’s seizure last week of a suspected shadow fleet tanker in the Western Mediterranean, as announced by President Emmanuel Macron. The opaque network of vessels has sustained Russian oil exports despite Western curbs on Moscow’s revenues.
US-proposed peace elements include Ukrainian presidential elections and territorial concessions, intensifying pressure on Zelenskyy, whose term has expired. Ukrainian law prohibits wartime voting, but he has expressed readiness for democratic polls if the US secures a two-month ceasefire for preparations and security assurances.
Contrastingly, Ukraine’s ex-top general Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, now ambassador to Britain and a potential rival candidate, argued in a March 22 NV article that “Ukraine needs not elections but a peace won through war, which will secure a future for our children.”