Публікація на EUobserver

Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, Italy’s interior minister Matteo Salvini recently announced that his government would “not be afraid” to use its veto powers in the European Union as a “last resort” to push the bloc into lifting sanctions against Russia.
This statement, completely overshadowed by the scandalous Trump-Putin Helsinki summit, brings into focus the politically precarious nature of the EU sanctions regime. More importantly, it highlights an inherent deficiency in the nature of the sanctions regime which demands remedy.

The EU, United States, and several other nations imposed sanctions against Russia in an attempt to uphold international law and halt Moscow’s unlawful aggression against Ukraine.

This act of solidarity with Ukraine has been the international community’s strongest message to Moscow.

It has helped to contain Russia’s war machinery, helping save thousands of Ukrainian lives, but it has not been enough to end Russia’s violations of international law in Ukraine as the price Moscow pays remains trivial in proportion to the gravity of its violations in Ukraine.

The principal problem with the EU sanctions regime is that it rests on the failure to recognise Russia’s interstate war against the Ukrainian state.

The result is an inherently flawed framework which does not pursue the right objectives – namely, to repress, reverse, and repair Russia’s violations of international law in Ukraine.