The Economic Security Council of Ukraine (ESCU) acted as a co-organizer of a political briefing held in Copenhagen on March 13 with the support of Rasmussen Global, Danish parliament member Jan Jorgensen, and the PR Army civil initiative.
Ilona Khmelova, the secretary of ESCU, Olena Yurchenko, senior advisor on analysis and investigations, and Denis Hutyk, senior advisor on public relations and communications, presented their concept of national policy for weakening the Russian military-industrial complex (MIC).
The purpose of the presentation was to provide Western allies of Ukraine with a series of recommendations and solutions to enhance the effectiveness of pressure on the aggressor's military machine. According to ESCU experts, the destruction of Russia's military industry, coupled with strengthening Ukraine's potential, should be a key priority for the international community in 2024.
ESCU members believe that the insufficient effectiveness of all restrictions imposed against Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion is due to the following factors:
- Passive and ill-considered policy of weakening the Russian MIC, based solely on sanctions and tactical reactions.
- Lack of a joint strategy and coordination between international and national bodies involved in the process.
- Inadequate use of all available tools to weaken the Russian MIC.
- Focus on restraining Russia instead of exploiting its weaknesses and undermining its potential.
To overcome these challenges, it is not enough to simply impose more sanctions. Qualitative changes at the systemic level are needed. Such changes, upon which the ESCU concept is based, include:
- Establishment of dedicated national teams responsible solely for effectively weakening and targeting the Russian MIC.
- Involvement not only of sanctioning but also military, intelligence, diplomatic, and financial institutions.
- Development of a joint strategy and action plan for weakening the Russian MIC, as well as combining sanctioning instruments with non-sanctioning ones.
- Establishment of constant and close coordination among all participants in the process.
- Regular monitoring of the real impact on the Russian MIC and adjustment of the joint action strategy.
In 2024, members of the sanctioning coalition and the international community as a whole need to shift from merely restraining the aggressor to effectively confronting it. This requires a clear understanding of the opponent's weaknesses and a strategy to target those weaknesses using all available means. Reactive policy should be replaced with anticipatory action.