WASHINGTON—Ukraine has expanded its Washington advocacy efforts in the wake of the Russian invasion, with the nation’s energy lobbyists pressing U.S. lawmakers for a no-fly zone, more military support and additional Russian sanctions, according to records and interviews.
Lobbyists for the Ukrainian Federation of Employers of the Oil and Gas Industry, a trade group representing state-owned energy enterprises that leads much of Ukraine’s lobbying in the U.S., are asking Washington for a second tier of sanctions on Russia that would prohibit U.S. banks from doing business with any bank in the world that is also doing business with Russia.
“This war isn’t going to end until Russia realizes we are serious about going after its energy sector,” said Daniel Vajdich, president of Yorktown Solutions, which has lobbied since 2017 for the Ukrainian energy federation.
Before Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s small but persistent U.S. influence operation was trained mostly on stopping Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, saying in effect that it would make it easier for Russia to ride roughshod over Ukraine, according to documents filed under the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act. Ukraine’s lobbyists said they couldn’t persuade the Biden administration at the time.
Now, the war—and President
Volodymyr Zelensky’s
courting of global leaders and public opinion—is helping advocates make their case that curbing Russia’s energy sector is key to changing Russian President
aggression toward Ukraine.
The idea of banking sanctions has the support of Sen.
Pat Toomey
(R., Pa.), the senior Republican on the Senate Banking Committee.
Mr. Toomey, in a Feb. 24 statement, called for the U.S. to “force the world to choose between doing business with Russia or the United States.” Senate Republicans, led by Sen.
Jim Risch
(R., Idaho), the senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced a bill on Feb. 15 on the secondary sanctions on banks.
Senate Banking Chairman
Sherrod Brown
(D., Ohio) “supports the president’s efforts, working with allies world-wide, to aggressively use sanctions authorities to cripple Russia’s banking and finance sectors,” his office said in a statement. Mr. Brown’s aides didn’t respond directly to a question about whether Democrats support Mr. Risch’s bill.
Ukraine’s energy lobbyists said their advocacy on sanctions directly relates to the country’s economic well-being and national security, a case they said they are making to Congress and the administration. “The only thing that the Kremlin understands is energy,” Mr. Vajdich said.
The Ukrainian energy trade group accounted for almost two-thirds of the roughly $2 million in Ukrainian U.S. lobbying last year, according to FARA documents. Most countries spend far more. Russia spent $35 million last year on U.S. lobbying, the filings show.
Read More: Ukraine Steps Up U.S. Lobbying Campaign