Time for Europe to Take the Lead on Sanctioning Russia
New Paper by The International Working Group on Russian Sanctions Out Now!
With U.S. support for Ukraine eroding under the new Trump administration, European support for Ukraine must grow. That greater support must include more economic pressure on Russia as a means to hasten the end of Russia’s invasion and occupation of Ukraine. It must also include new resources for Ukraine. In this working paper, we suggest ideas for how to do both. We remain hopeful that the Trump administration might see the benefits of increasing pressure on Putin’s Russia as part of a strategy to end the war. For instance, after meeting President Zelenskyy in Rome in April, President Trump observed, "It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions?"
If President Trump is ready to follow up on these words with actions, our working paper also has suggestions for the U.S. government. But Europe cannot wait for the Americans any longer. Europe has significant leverage over Russia, including being the largest purchaser of Russian gas, the leading provider of shipping and insurance services to the Russian oil fleet, and the location of the vast majority of Russia’s $300 billion in frozen central bank reserves. It should now use this leverage and take the lead in putting more pressure on Russia and giving more support to Ukraine.
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine has tragically entered its 4th year, we have written a 4th Action Plan for increasing sanctions and other economic measures as a means to hasten the end of this war. Our Action Plan 4.0 consists of 11 sections: (1) New Sanctions to Reduce Russian Revenues for Financing the War; (2) New Sanctions to Weaken Russia’s Military Industrial Complex; (3) Confiscate Frozen Russian Assets Abroad; (4) Expand Financial Sanctions; (5) Reduce Russian Access to Western Technology; (6) Impose Goods and The International Working Group on Russian Sanctions 4 Services Trade Export Quotas on High-risk Intermediary Countries; (7) Condition Multilateral Program Participation on Sanctions Compliance; (8) Introduce Customs-based Trade Friction for At-Risk Supply Chains; (9) and Announce Preemptive Sanctions Designations with Grace Periods for Divestment.
Read the full paper here.
Yes absolutely!