Indeed, the European Union has appointed a special EU envoy on sanctions, David O’Sullivan, who is carrying out an in-depth study of the situation. The EU’s approach is the same one it is pushing the G7 to follow: to close loopholes and prevent Russia from evading sanctions. This would be its 11th round of restrictions. Stopping evasionĪt the same time, the EU has been debating its next package of sanctions against Russia. Even if the ban were to go ahead, agreeing on the exceptions would be very difficult, say these sources, who argue that there could be so many exceptions that the ban could be diluted into “just one more piece of paper.” According to a European diplomat, even the countries that back the toughest sanctions on Russia are concerned that replacing the sector-by-sector approach with a total ban that includes exceptions will reopen debate and weaken sanctions. Indeed, such a move is not considered “sustainable,” according to EU sources involved with the negotiations ahead of the G7 leaders’ meeting in Hiroshima (Japan) in mid-May. It instead wants to design better anti-circumvention tools, and is exploring the idea of establishing a mechanism to deter countries from helping Russia evade restrictions.Īccording to Bloomberg News and EU sources, Washington - frustrated by the loopholes that allow Moscow to receive Western technology that may have both civilian and military uses - is calling on the G7 (the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada) and the EU to agree to a total veto on exports to Russia, with exceptions in the agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors.īut while some nations may believe a total ban will send a strong and highly symbolic message to Moscow, the measure would not receive the greenlight from the 27-member bloc. The United States wants to plug these holes with a total ban on exports to Russia, but the EU - which is more in favor of applying restrictions sector by sector - believes that this approach is not viable. However, Russia has been able to find ways to circumvent the sanctions by importing and exporting goods via third countries. The sanctions on Moscow are working and impacting the Russian economy, albeit more slowly than expected. The pace of decision-making has slowed, and Kyiv’s Western allies are now divided on what steps to take next.
The West’s margin to impose measures aimed at corralling the Russian economy and prevent it from further fueling the war in Ukraine is getting smaller and smaller.
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