Should the EU ease sanctions on Russia to facilitate a truce in Ukraine?

BrusselsThe White House announced Tuesday that Ukraine and Russia had reached an agreement for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, but one condition of Vladimir Putin can blow up understanding: the lifting of some of the sanctions by the European Union against the Kremlin. In turn, European leaders, who remain distrustful of Moscow, flatly refuse to accede to the Kremlin's request, and argue that it is one of their few tools of pressure to force Putin to comply with the agreements he signs and abandon the invasion launched against Ukrainian territory.

Specifically, Moscow demands that the restrictions imposed by the European bloc against Rosselkhozbank (Russian Agricultural Bank) and financial organizations involved in guaranteeing international trade operations of food products and fertilizers be lifted, which should be reconnected to the system of SWIFT international payments. Furthermore, Putin calls for an end to sanctions against Russian companies that could export food and agricultural machinery to the EU, as well as restrictions on Russian ships transporting food products.

However, European leaders are by no means willing to lift these sanctions. At their meeting in Paris, they agreed on their willingness to maintain them until they see a firmer commitment from Putin and peace is achieved. "This is not the time," said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "It would be a serious mistake," added German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. "It would be a bad strategic decision to fall into the temptation of prematurely easing the sanctions," justify sources in the office of the President of the European Council, António Costa.

In fact, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky himself insists repeatedly that the sanctions against Putin's regime not be lifted until something better is in place. "Russia doesn't want peace," says the Ukrainian leader, who also accuses Putin of setting these kinds of conditions to delay negotiations and try to blame the Western allies for the war.

In this sense, the researcher specialized in Russia from think tank ISPI's Elonora Tafuro explains to ARA that the European Union is not refusing to lift the sanctions at all costs, but rather is demanding more substantial compensation than an end to attacks in the Black Sea or a 30-day partial ceasefire. "It's not enough," the expert believes.

Furthermore, Russia has already breached the 2014 Minsk Agreements, even though, had it not broken the agreement, the EU would have withdrawn the sanctions it had imposed during the Donbas war. In any case, the ISPI researcher emphasizes that all sanctions intended to achieve a goal, such as peace in the case of the European bloc, are designed to be repealed one day and act as an incentive for the sanctioned regime to rectify.

Sanctions that have fallen by the wayside.

Tafuro points out that European leaders' intention with the sanctions against Putin's regime was for its economy to "collapse." "In this sense, they have failed," the expert concludes. However, she counters that "they have negatively affected the Russian economy," which was no longer in its best shape, and therefore has had a certain impact. "The fact that Putin is now asking for the sanctions to be eased shows that his country has suffered damage," she adds.

It's worth remembering that the EU has specifically imposed sanctions on imports of all types of Russian-origin products into the bloc and has blacklisted top Kremlin leaders, including Putin himself. This means they cannot operate economically or enter the territory of the European club. However, there are significant loopholes in the imposition of these sanctions. For example, the EU has not stopped purchasing Russian liquefied natural gas and has continued to enrich Moscow in this way. In fact, one of the Member States with the most transactions with Russia is the Russian Federation. This fossil fuel of Russian origin is Spain.