2 July 2025, 07:34

By Marit Rødevand

During the G7 Keir Starmer vowed to keep ‘tightening the screws’ on Putin, announcing a fresh raft of sanctions on finance, energy and military targets.

This is the latest package of sanctions announced by the UK as part of an effort to, as the PM puts it, ‘choke off [Putin’s] ability to continue his barbaric war’. So why isn’t it working?

The answer is that Russia is still finding ways to evade sanctions and protract the conflict in Ukraine. Russia’s ability to adapt has outpaced an archaic and sluggish sanctions system that is prone to loopholes.

According to KCL’s Russia Institute, sanctions have so far ‘not cut supplies but have instead empowered trade networks and intermediaries by creating additional sources of income’.

You wouldn’t go to war with outdated weapons - so why isn’t our sanctions regime as cutting edge as our arms?

To diagnose what needs to be changed we first need to analyse how Russia is evading sanctions.

One of the primary methods it utilises is ‘third countries’. When it comes to goods and industrial equipment, that means importing goods through countries like Kazakhstan and Georgia.

With regard to oil and gas, it involves the Kremlin using ‘third countries’ to effectively ‘launder’........

© LBC