Vladyslav Vlasiuk, who advises President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, also urged allies not to fear that a tougher sanctions clampdown could drive some countries closer to Russia, describing such a worry as overblown. He was speaking in an interview from Kyiv as world leaders meet to discuss new sanctions measures and how to prevent Russia and companies in third countries from circumventing sanctions imposed after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last year. “We are grateful for all the support we have received from our allies and we have seen some positive signals on the latest sanctions packages under consideration," Vlasiuk said. Tinkoff and Rosselkhozbank have already been excluded from the SWIFT global payments system, but other banks have been subjected to full blocking sanctions. “Russian banks who provide financial services to Russian soldiers fighting an unlawful war of aggression on Ukrainian soil should face the toughest possible sanctions from our allies," Vlasiuk said.

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