Zelenskyy's Office: US must shift from containing Russia to ensuring its global defeat
Photo: Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Presidential Office (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The United States must shift from a strategy of containing Russia to ensuring its global defeat. To achieve this, it is necessary to limit Russia's revenues and strike its infrastructure, Presidential Office adviser Mykhailo Podolyak stated this in a comment to RBC-Ukraine's YouTube channel.
According to him, the 500% tariffs for countries purchasing Russian oil and sanctions against the shadow fleet, as proposed in the United States, are no longer about containing Russia, which has been the approach for the past three years, but about ensuring its defeat. The key objective should be to significantly limit the aggressor's revenues.
"Everything Russia earns on global markets — it's not just oil and liquefied gas, but also pipeline gas — must be subject to secondary sanctions against countries that are profiting from this without consequences," Podolyak stated.
He believes that such countries will not risk their economic interests since alternatives, including supplies from the Middle East, are on the market.
"Because the market will have the opportunity to purchase oil legally, and Middle Eastern countries will provide additional volumes. First and foremost, this means Saudi Arabia," he explained.
The second crucial aspect, according to Podolyak, is military pressure. Strikes on Russian territory must reach a completely new level — more intelligence data, more missile technology, and more destroyed military targets in the European part of Russia.
He is convinced that such a strategy could quickly trigger an internal crisis within the Kremlin.
"These are two tools that can rapidly lead to internal conflict, similar to what has previously occurred within Putin's inner circle, where discussions emerged about ending the war and so on," he stated.
In his opinion, to force Moscow to abandon further aggression, the US must focus on two main pressure levers — financial and military.
US senators have proposed tough sanctions against Russia, including a 500% tariff on goods from countries that purchase Russian oil and gas.
The bill, initiated by Senators Lindsey Graham (Republican Party) and Richard Blumenthal (Democratic Party), envisions sanctions in response to Russia’s refusal to commit to a long-term peace with Ukraine. The initiative is backed by 50 senators, with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, highlighting strong bipartisan support.
