Russian President Vladimir Putin / Photo: screenshot from the video
The European Union has introduced 14 packages of sanctions against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, these measures aimed at weakening the Kremlin’s war machine have yet to yield the desired results, as Moscow continues to evade them through various tactics, France Presse reported on Wednesday.
Despite Russia’s economic slowdown, its growth rate still exceeds 4%, which, according to the Kremlin, proves that Western sanctions are ineffective. On Monday, the Russian government announced a 30% increase in the defense budget for 2024.
“Sanctions are only effective when backed by a broad coalition,” explained Guntram Wolff, a researcher at the Bruegel Institute and a professor at the Free University of Brussels. However, without the involvement of countries like China, India, and other Global South nations, it becomes “very difficult” to implement truly effective sanctions, the expert added.
Russia has managed to bypass export bans on technologies like microprocessors through third-party countries, including China, Turkey, the UAE, and former Soviet republics in Central Asia. David O’Sullivan, the EU’s special envoy for sanctions, recently acknowledged that Russia’s ingenuity in self-sufficiency is “remarkable.”
Despite the EU’s diplomatic efforts, experts believe negotiations alone may not suffice. In Brussels, Ukrainian sanctions advisor Vladyslav Vlasiuk emphasized that European-made technologies continue to be found in Russian ammunition and missiles.
European companies resist tougher measures, but clearer guidelines and strict financial penalties for non-compliance are needed to improve the sanctions’ effectiveness, Wolff noted. He suggested adopting measures similar to those used in the financial sector to combat money laundering.
While sanctions are not 100% effective, they do make it “harder, slower, and more expensive” for Russia to acquire the products needed for its defense industry, O’Sullivan concluded.
