Kyiv is demanding that the largest banks in Europe and the US break ties with companies trading in oil from the Russian Federation and sell their stakes in Russian oil and gas companies.

This was stated in an interview with the Financial Times (FT) by Oleg Ustenko, adviser to the President of Ukraine on economic issues.

Otherwise, he noted, claims against these banks will be filed with the International Criminal Court, and the Ukrainian authorities themselves will block access to participation in the post-war reconstruction of the country.

According to the official, the list of requirements is set out in letters that were sent to the head of the US bank JPMorgan Chase, James Dimon, the CEO of the British-Hong Kong banking group HSBC, Noel Quinn, as well as to the US bank Citigroup and the French financial group Credit Agricole.

The letters, seen by the FT, note that HSBC and Credit Agricole own shares in Gazprom and Rosneft, Citigroup provides loans to the Russian company Lukoil and the Dutch company Vitol, which trades in Russian oil, and JPMorgan Chase allocates credit lines to Vitol and owns stakes in shares of Gazprom, Sberbank and Rosneft.

The newspaper also emphasizes that the Ukrainian government was particularly outraged by the JPMorgan Chase analytical material, which says that attempts to set a ceiling on Russian oil prices could lead to an increase in world prices to "a sky-high $ 380 per barrel."

Ustenko, in his letter to James Dimon, called this report "sowing panic on the basis of poor-quality analysis."

In addition, according to Zelensky’s adviser, Ukrainian intelligence services are already collecting information about how Western financial corporations support Russia’s oil and gas industry in order to file appropriate claims against them with the ICC after the end of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

“I believe that they are committing a war crime, because in this way they help the Putin regime and (thus. -

RT

) support it,” the official said.

However, as the FT clarifies, investigating and bringing governments and corporations to justice is not within the competence of the International Criminal Court.

The relevant actions of the ICC can only be carried out in relation to individuals.

In addition, according to journalists, Citigroup and Credit Agricole curtailed their activities in Russia after the start of the special operation, and JPMorgan Chase stressed to the correspondents of the publication that they strictly adhere to the sanctions, although their implementation has become "an incredibly difficult task."

Reducing financial support

This is not the first time that threats have been heard in Kyiv against allies who are in no hurry to give up Russian energy resources.

The same Oleg Ustenko, in an interview with Sky News on March 23, stated that the Ukrainian leadership intends to sue Western countries that have not refused to import Russian oil.

Meanwhile, the economic situation in Ukraine is rapidly deteriorating.

However, the country's authorities cannot decide on the amount of financial assistance needed.

So, on April 25, The Washington Post, citing Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko, reported that Kyiv needs monthly financial support, which would be at least $5 billion a month.

At the same time, Ukraine expects that $2 billion of this amount will be provided by the United States, the publication specified.

The figure of $5 billion was also announced on June 20 in a video message at the Global Policy Forum by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to him, this amount, which is received monthly, is necessary to cover the budget deficit in the country.

However, in less than a month, this figure in the mouth of Ustenko almost doubled.

As an adviser to the President of Ukraine noted in an interview with the FT on July 13, the country now needs to receive $ 9 billion from allies every month so that it can close holes in the budget.

“We will try to survive in any case, but without financial support from our allies, it will not only be difficult, but practically impossible,” Ustenko said.

Meanwhile, as noted on July 6 at the German Institute of World Economics, which has been keeping records of military, financial and humanitarian assistance promised to Ukraine since February 24, the dynamics of support for the country is declining around the world.

On July 15, Bloomberg reported that the EU countries failed to agree on a €9 billion financial assistance package for Kyiv, which was promised by the European Commission back in May.

The finance ministers of the EU countries agreed to provide Ukraine with a loan in the amount of 1/9 of the promised amount.

  • Legion Media

"The West wants to get by with the bare minimum"

Experts interviewed by RT believe that Kyiv, each time putting forward new requirements for Western companies and countries in general, is thus testing the ground for the possibility of obtaining even greater preferences for itself.

“This is an attempt to force the West to help Ukraine with more money than it is ready to do.

We see that the allies willingly send weapons to Kyiv, but not cash tranches.

Because the West wants to get by with a minimum, while Ukraine seeks to get the maximum possible from its partners, ”explained Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, in an interview with RT.

In addition, in his opinion, Kyiv is trying to increase its significance in the eyes of Western partners, therefore, in place and out of place, they appeal to such international bodies as the ICC.

“The Ukrainian leadership is not very competent from a legal point of view, but they know that in the West such structures enjoy authority, so they are trying to use them as a tool of pressure on the allies, especially since Kyiv began to notice that their interests were gradually being neglected,” the expert noted.

In turn, Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, recalled that attempts to intimidate financial organizations, half of which are American, by the International Criminal Court are pointless.

He stressed that the United States not only is not a member of the ICC, but also forbade the court to prosecute and prosecute its citizens.

“Here, either the Ukrainians are showing deep incompetence, or they are deliberately misleading the public.

After all, this is an absolute absurdity - to apply to a body that cannot take action against the Americans, ”the analyst said in a conversation with RT.

He also called absurd the threats of the Kyiv authorities to prevent Western credit organizations from participating in the subsequent restoration of the country, since it is not known what format Ukraine will be in after the end of the Russian special operation.

  • Ukrainian military

  • © Narciso Contreras/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

“I doubt that the Zelensky government will remain at the helm after the end of the conflict.

As soon as the situation stabilizes, it will either resign itself, or, as they say, they will leave it.

And completely different people will be engaged in the restoration of the country, based on the realities that will be by that time, ”said Olenchenko.

His opinion is shared by Vladimir Bruter, who believes that the current threats and statements by the Kyiv authorities are just an attempt to revive interest in themselves.

“The West knows that Ukraine today is not a subject and does not control its own destiny, which is still rather vague.

Therefore, all decisions after the completion of the Russian special military operation will not be made in Kyiv.

And all the projects that Ukraine is building today are not of interest to the West at all, ”the expert concluded.