Republican Washington has spent two years describing Ukraine as a victim that keeps coming back to ask for more. The narrative is shifting.
Ukraine has emerged as a middle power, Bennett Freeman, former US diplomat and B4Ukraine SteerCo member, told coalition's conference. Defense tech sector captured the imagination of global defense industry & Silicon Valley.
"This is a country of incredible innovation," Freeman said. The new framing is leverage—and the coalition should use it. #ExitRussia
Trump administration's posture on Russia is fixed. The Republican Party around it is less so.
A few traditional foreign-policy Republicans are remembering the importance of NATO &transatlantic security, Bennett Freeman, frmer US diplomat & #B4Ukraine SteerCo member, told coalition's conference. Midterms cld amplify them.
The greater short-term opportunity, Freeman said, is EU—where Orbán's defeat in Hungary has opened space for sanctions & funding gaps to close. #ExitRussia #StopFundingTheWar
The Trump administration's position on Russia hasn't shifted publicly. Below the surface, something is moving
Iran is doing what four years of Ukrainian advocacy couldn't. Russian support for Tehran is making US congressmen ask why US is easing pressure on Moscow, Olena Pavlenko of Dixi Group told #B4Ukraine after a week in Washington
The opening is narrow and unofficial. The coalition's job, Pavlenko said, is to make the Russia-Iran link impossible to ignore. #ExitRussia #StopFundingTheWar
Lifting sanctions on Russia now will cost the West more later, not less
Any future Russian war—against Estonia, against another neighbor—will have to be ended with the same money West is currently saving by easing pressure now, Olena Pavlenko of Dixi Group told #B4Ukraine conference
"They will pay twice. They will shoot themselves in the head."
The argument cuts against the economic case for sanctions relief. It also reframes relief as a cost, not a saving. #ExitRussia #StopFundingTheWar
EU shadow fleet sanctions don't work. Brussels has stopped not even a dozen ships, said Bohdan Chumak at #B4Ukraine.
Sanctions procedures drag on for months. Western components keep flowing into Russian missiles and drones.
Criminal prosecution of enablers, not slower lists.
Ukrainians have been advocating for sanctions by talking about Ukrainian losses. That's the wrong frame.
The argument that lands with US, UK & European audiences is one built around Russian risks to their own national interests, #B4Ukraine SteerCo member Valeriya Melnichuk told the coalition's annual conference. "Russia as a problem, rather than Ukraine as a victim."
It's counterintuitive for Ukrainian advocates. Melnichuk says it's also more effective. #ExitRussia #StopFundingTheWar
Sanctions fail at enforcement, not designation. Investigations expose foreign enablers; names go on lists, yet nothing changes, said Viktoriia Vyshnivska at #B4Ukraine.
British optics used in F-35s and Challenger tanks were delivered to a Russian aviation plant via Kyrgyzstan. BBC named the seller, Valeria Baigascina of Rama Group. A few designations followed. She made her Instagram private. Yet the supplies kept flowing.
The pressure to keep Russia sanctions suspended isn't only coming from Moscow.
At the IMF & World Bank meetings, African countries & some poorer Asian states are quietly lobbying the US to continue the suspension of sanctions against Russia so they can buy oil more cheaply, #B4Ukraine SteerCo member Valeriya Melnichuk told the coalition's conference.
They believe cheaper Russian oil helps them. The lobbying is happening in rooms where Ukraine isn't represented. #ExitRussia #StopFundingTheWar
For 50 months, the West has piled sanctions on Russia. 20 EU "packages." Loud promises to "cripple" Putin's war machine.
Today: Russia still occupies one-fifth of Ukraine. 2,500 civilians killed in 2025—the deadliest year yet.
A #B4Ukraine conference in Kyiv asks the question Western capitals avoid. Why didn't sanctions work? We're covering - keep tuned!
https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/04/26/sanctions-on-russia-do-they-work-why-why-not-blame-changes/
#ExitRussia #StopFundingTheWar
Euromaidan Press