EU tightening sanctions regime on Russia by targeting sanction dodgers across Asia
In order to prevent Russia from accessing Western technology for its war effort, the EU is going global in the search for sanctions offenders, expanding its focus to countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia.
The European Union is expanding its effort to enforce and strengthen sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, with David O’Sullivan, the EU’s top diplomat on Russia sanctions, planning to visit Vietnam and Malaysia in September.
As reported by Politico, the former EU ambassador to Washington is on a mission to persuade governments to prevent weapons or their critical components from reaching Russia via secretive intermediaries. These streams almost always involve multiple contracts, shippers and countries.
“These products are frankly contributing to the death of innocent Ukrainian civilians, as we saw with the tragic attack on the children’s hospital in Kyiv,” said O’Sullivan.
China is a “growing problem” as a circumvention hub for the EU’s sanctions against Russia, the envoy said. Some 70 to 80 percent of Russia’s Western inputs of battlefield and some dual-use items travel via China or Hong Kong.
However, O’Sullivan notes that the circumvention of sanctions has lately seen a slight eastward drift.
“Vietnam and Malaysia are my next destinations in September,” said O’Sullivan, who will be joined in Malaysia by representatives from Britain and possibly the United States.
O’Sullivan believes that third-country governments are willing to listen to the EU’s arguments, noting that ”people also are thinking about their relations with us, their relations with the Americans, their relations with the G7, and how they position themselves generally.”
“Many of these countries seek to attract inward investment. The US and the EU are by far the greatest source of that of that kind of investment — Russia is not going to invest,” O’Sullivan noted.
Furthermore, the EU sanctions envoy emphasized that ”they don’t want the reputational damage of their country and companies being identified as breaking sanctions.”
”Russia’s war economy is like a car with a slow puncture”
As a trained economist, O’Sullivan is careful with forecasts — but he stands by his view that Russia’s war economy is like a car with a slow puncture. It isn’t about to crash but, over time, will become impossible to steer.
“Into next year, Russia is going to increasingly struggle economically,” he said.
“Putin has shown a willingness to sacrifice the well-being of his people to an extent which most of us thought he would not do. If you’re prepared to cannibalize the rest of the economy for maintaining your military capacity, well, you can do that. But the medium-term costs are huge,” the EU sanctions envoy stated.
O’Sullivan said that his efforts are not just aimed at helping Ukraine fend off Russia. According to the envoy, Europe is currently going through an ”existential moment.” Therefore, the matter is of utmost importance for the very future of Europe as a whole.
“Sanctions are not just about Ukraine, there are very good reasons why we have to do this in our own best interests. If Mr. Putin has his way in Ukraine, it will have enormous consequences,” he said.
Related:
- June sees 4-month low in Russian oil export earnings
- Western tech in Russia’s missiles: 15 companies whose parts fuel Kh-101 missile that hit Kyiv Children’s Hospital
- Sanctioned Russian billionaires continue to profit despite restrictions
- Trap Aggressor: Russian billionaire Abramovich not under US sanctions yet, while his business fuels Russia’s war in Ukraine
- EU tightens sanctions on Belarus for Russia war support
- The Moscow Times: Russian oligarch purchases Airbus jet from EU through shadow schemes
