Atlantic Council: Sanctioning Russia is a long game. Here’s how to win

2022-06-24 | Expert publications, Sanctions

By Brian O’Toole, and Daniel Fried. While military support remains the critical pillar of Western policy, especially in the short term, economic pressure is key to the longer-term goal of isolating Russian President Vladimir Putin.   The challenge facing Ukraine and its partners is the disconnect between the West’s powerful long-term sanctions and the shorter-term military advantages Russia still enjoys despite Western arms shipments to Kyiv. The US and European counterplay, therefore, is to ramp up economic pressure on Russia while helping Ukraine thwart a decisive, near-term Russian military victory. Doing so could induce Putin to settle on terms more favorable to Ukraine, rather than negotiating with him while he controls massive amounts of Ukraine’s territory.

 

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