Home › Politics › Sanctions and a phone call: Ukraine's 13 February
Sanctions and a phone call: Ukraine's 13 February
Summary
On 13 February 2025, Kyiv announced sanctions on several prominent figures a day after the US president announced talks with Moscow.
What did Ukrainian politics look like on 13 February 2025, the morning after the US president announced talks with Russia? Two developments framed the day: a new round of sanctions at home and the diplomatic shift abroad.
On 13 February 2025, President Volodymyr Zelensky introduced sanctions against several oligarchs and other individuals. The list included former president Petro Poroshenko, Viktor Medvedchuk, Kostyantyn Zhevago, Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennadiy Bogolyubov. The measures were linked to suspicions of state treason and assisting a terrorist organisation, including their alleged role in undermining national security through unfavourable business deals with Russia.
The call that preceded it
The day before, on 12 February 2025, US president Donald Trump said negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine would begin immediately. He made the announcement after a telephone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The conversation was later described as having lasted about an hour and a half. It was the first direct exchange of views between the leaders of the two countries since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Two tracks on consecutive days
The sanctions announcement and the announcement of US-Russian talks came on consecutive days. One concerned domestic security and the alleged business ties of named individuals with Russia; the other opened a new diplomatic channel between Washington and Moscow over the war.
