imposed to punish Moscow in its war on Ukraine

EU sanctions on Russia are doing more harm than good

European Union Council President Charles Michel speaks during a press conference during the European Summit on Ukraine, Defense and Energy in Brussels.

AFP

Nine million households in Britain face the prospect of blackouts in the morning and evening this winter, to maintain sanctions against Russia, as consumers across Europe are doing.

This is despite Europe pumping about a billion dollars a day to Russia, to pay for the gas and oil that it continues to consume.

This sounds crazy, as EU proposals to stop payments to Russia are reasonably opposed by countries close to Russia, and they rely heavily on their fossil fuels, with Germany buying 12% of its oil and 35% of its gas from Russia, figures much higher in Hungary.

It seems that the European Union in Brussels does not know what to do, and a diplomatic settlement has been reached, consisting in granting a temporary exemption to oil transported from Russia through pipelines, in order to satisfy Hungary, which threatened to use the “veto” against this sixth package of European sanctions against Russia, as well as Germany. However, no practical plan has been agreed upon.

It seems that the real reason for not reaching a plan is that the debate over the sanctions weapon has turned into a rhetoric of defiance, aimed at forcing a foreign regime to change some of its unacceptable policies.

Sanctions fail

Sanctions rarely produce a tangible result, and they have already failed blatantly in the case of Russia.

Defenders of this policy claim that sanctions are a means of deterrence with medium to long-term objectives.

And as the war in Ukraine turns to a different course, this run may indeed be a long way to go.

Sanctions may have hurt Russia's credit standing, but the 70% rise in global gas prices alone has increased rates in its balance of payments.

According to its central bank, its current account trade surplus is now three times more than its pre-invasion level.

At the same time, it is clear that the sanctions are hurting the countries of Western and Central Europe that impose them, and it is absurd to expect Hungary to deprive itself of energy, and, as she says, “it will completely destroy its economy,” when there is no specific target or timetable. In sight.

Crisis in the markets

Sanctions are usually hard to undo, and the worst appears to be coming.

Russia's response to the sanctions has been to threaten to cut off gas to Europe, driving up prices in its favour.

It already blockades the Black Sea ports, from which millions of tons of Ukrainian grain are usually shipped to the outside world.

This blockade saw grain prices rise by 48 percent compared to 2019, which led to a crisis in the markets, especially across Africa. It means that this is illogical or not. The West cannot ignore the unexpected results of the sanctions war.

NATO has been reasonably careful not to escalate the war in Ukraine into a European conflict, but sanctions are not so careful, and millions of innocent people will suffer across Europe, and far from its shores, as food and energy prices rise.

Supply lines will be disrupted, trade links will collapse, and the poor are most victims.

Clearly, the goal of forcing Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine was not achieved, and military aid has been much more effective in this regard, but the damage to the rest of Europe and the outside world now appears to be visible, and the EU should stick to helping Ukraine in its war effort, and withdraw The economic sanctions imposed on Russia, and the European Union seems to be trying to defeat itself, will suffer the ravages of meaningless sanctions.

Simon Jenkins is a columnist for the British Guardian newspaper

The real reason that no plan was reached is that the debate over the sanctions weapon has turned into a rhetoric of defiance aimed at forcing a foreign regime to change some of its unacceptable policies.

Sanctions may have hurt Russia's credit standing, but the 70% rise in global gas prices alone has increased rates in its balance of payments.

The European Union in Brussels does not know what to do, and a diplomatic settlement has been reached, which consists in granting a temporary exemption to oil transported from Russia through pipelines, in order to satisfy Hungary, which threatened to use the “veto” against this sixth package of European sanctions against Russia, as well as Germany, But no practical plan has been agreed upon.

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