The Yermak-McFaul international expert group has become a key platform for the formation of the allies' sanctions policy towards Russia, Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak believes.

According to the presidential press service on Thursday, a regular meeting of the International Expert Group on Russia-related sanctions was held under the chairmanship of Head of the President's Office Yermak and former national security adviser to the President of the United States, Ambassador Michael McFaul. The event was held via videoconference.

During the meeting, Yermak said the group's experts prepared four large-scale documents and a number of statements, and also actively informed the general public about the need for sanctions against Russia.

"These efforts are highly appreciated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian government and, most importantly, by the entire Ukrainian people. They were also noticed by our allies. The documents of our group were handed over to the leaders of many states – the United States, Great Britain, the European Union," Yermak said.

According to him, last week, two U.S. senators during a meeting with the president of Ukraine mentioned the work of the International Expert Group.

"They said the very idea of recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism stems from the Action Plan provided by our group," Yermak said.

The President's Office head said that to date, more than 50% of the steps of the group's action plan have been completed.

In addition, according to Yermak, the International Expert Group has become a key platform for the formation of sanctions against the aggressor country, and almost all world leaders refer to the products of its work.

"Now we see how the EU sanctions coordinators are developing the seventh package based on the materials of our group. We see the reflection of our ideas in the sanctions of the UK, the United States and other states of the sanctions coalition. In general, the group had a very important impact. And I would like us to support this success," he said.

It is noted that the meeting participants agreed on the importance of strengthening sanctions against Russia, in particular, recognizing the aggressor as a state sponsor of terrorism, expanding personal sanctions, further sectoral sanctions in the financial and energy sectors, and broader trade and technological restrictions.

They also proposed to analyze the impact of sanctions on certain sectors of the Russian economy in order to develop recommendations for strengthening their effectiveness.