The Ukrainian President's visit to the United States has been a success and shows that our country remains a focus of US policy.

Of particular importance is the progress toward adopting the “sanctions from hell” package of energy sanctions against the aggressor.

That was the assessment given in a comment to ArmyInform by military expert Colonel Petro Chernyk.

Psychological effect and support for energy sanctions

According to the expert, the trip matters above all because it established direct contact between the leaders of Ukraine and the United States, which produces a powerful positive psychological effect. At the same time, he urges a broader view of the situation — in the context of how the relationship and military-technical assistance have evolved. That assistance was enormous under Joe Biden’s administration, and with Donald Trump’s arrival it was transformed into a procurement model, which gave European partners an additional incentive.

“It was assumed that once Trump came to power, his administration would abandon assistance to Ukraine. But that is far from the case. What did the Americans do? They shifted everything to a procurement model. And that is a good thing, because in this way they encouraged the European Union to purchase everything that was needed,” Petro Chernyk notes.

Another important aspect is the evolution from last year’s Anchorage meeting to the prospect of genuinely strangling Russia’s energy sector.

“Last year Putin met Trump in Anchorage, and it was believed that Ukraine was being ‘sold out’ there and forced into capitulation. That is not so. In reality, the ball was in the Russians’ court to stop the war along the line that had taken shape at that moment, and in return the Russians could have received a major lifting of sanctions. And now we have moved on from that pass to the Russians to something that can now be described as the prospect of genuinely strangling the Russian Federation’s energy sector. Because only yesterday there was a procedural vote on this enormous sanctions package aimed primarily at oil and gas. The Senate has taken that step. We hope that Congress will do the same in September,” Petro Chernyk says.

The expert recalled that the bulk of the Russian Federation’s war budget is filled precisely through the sale of energy resources.

“We have taken up the task of burning out their oil complex very seriously. But it is not oil alone. If Russia’s energy sector is divided in two, then oil goes largely to the outside world and is, of course, fuel for the war. But there is also gas. It is incredibly important to them as well — and not only as a fuel. Russia is among the world’s five largest producers of nitrogen fertilisers. That is a very important detail too,” Petro Chernyk notes.

The expert drew particular attention to the status of the meetings held in the United States: “The very fact that our President was received in this manner. By such an extended group of senators — and that is 60 people. That is a great many. It is an incredible success. We remain, on their geopolitical radar, one of the principal arenas of world politics,” he stresses.

Working with the defence giants

Beyond the political track, contacts with American arms manufacturers were an important element of the visit. The Ukrainian President met with representatives of Lockheed Martin, the main producer of F-16 fighter jets and a wide range of other weaponry.

Media space and prospects

Another significant component of the visit was the Ukrainian leader’s presence in the US information space ahead of the elections, which helps keep the Ukrainian issue in the minds of ordinary Americans. The expert emphasises that the success of the visit is determined first and foremost by the strength of the alliance between the two countries and nations, and not by individual personalities alone.

Summing up the results of the trip, Petro Chernyk notes: “That said, we should not expect too much from this trip for the time being. This is the first accurate shot as regards the so-called sanctions from hell package. But we have to wait until September — for it to actually be voted through, and for these sanctions to genuinely start working. So we are watching. In my view, things will start to become truly painful for the Russians somewhere around the end of August. And real steps toward strangling them with truly powerful sanctions are expected in September. This is only the first card from a large deck.”