Of all the sanctions the EU has imposed on Russia, the planned price cap on the country's oil exports is the most difficult to date.

Everything that is already written in the Official Journal of the EU to increase the pressure on Putin could be implemented by the member states themselves.

But now they want to intervene in the world markets for oil.

They want to ensure that Putin no longer benefits from the immense price increases with which he can compensate for the loss of his western customers, especially in China and India.

However, the EU only has some of the instruments to do this, because not only European shipowners would have to comply with the requirements.

There is no guarantee that the ship insurance expedient will work, even if all G-7 countries work together as intended.

Putin will look for loopholes, and he may well find them.

Possibilities of sanctions severely exhausted

The Lithuanian foreign minister summarized the measures included in the EU's eighth package since the beginning of the war with the impression that there were sometimes more exceptions than sanctions.

In fact, the EU, like the West as a whole, has already exhausted the possibilities for sanctions.

If individual sectors such as aviation or steel are still being improved, it will not be in vain.

But what will have the greatest effect is what has been in motion for some time: the extensive end of Russian energy supplies to Europe.

When it comes to gas, Putin even brings it about himself.

The new sanctions package is the EU's response to the recent Russian annexations in Ukraine.

When Putin annexed Crimea in 2014, the mood was very different, especially in Germany.

The high price for appeasement is now being paid first and foremost by the Ukrainians, but indirectly also by EU citizens and many other peoples around the world.

This is something to keep in mind as the conflict is likely to be long and require more difficult decisions.