U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in Ukraine: Sanctions imposed on Russia not enough

Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. of the United States Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine, William Taylor has said the sanctions imposed on Russia are not enough since Russia has not left either Donbas or Crimea yet.

Speaking in an interview with Georgia's First Channel, Taylor said the sanctions were designed to make Russia stop its aggression and that was why they had been imposed by the U.S., Europe, Australia, Japan, Canada, and other countries. However, Taylor said he believed that the international community could apply wider sanctions against Russia that could be travel bans or asset freezes. "One of the stronger sanctions for Russia could be its expulsion from the international financial system. This can be destructive for the country. This could be a price for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," Georgia's First Channel quoted Taylor as saying.

The U.S. diplomat also mentioned the commitment undertaken at the Bucharest Summit. He underlined that Russian aggression and its military presence in the occupied territories of Georgia and Ukraine remained the main challenge for both countries to become NATO member states.