As Ukraine succumbs to Russia’s brutal invasion, leading to the worst military bloodshed on European soil since the end of World War II, European leaders are negotiating sanctions, ensuring that crackdowns don’t damage their own economies too much. .
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, promised hours after the invasion began Thursday, “huge” sanctions that would cripple Russia’s financial position. But it soon became clear that Russia’s tentacles are so deeply entrenched in Europe’s strongest economies that punishing Putin will come at a heavy price. Italy has requested that luxury goods so dear to Russian oligarchs be banned. Germany pushed for an exemption for the energy sector before eventually halting Nord Stream 2 certification, but refused Thursday to block Russia from the SWIFT bank payment system. Other countries, including Hungary, dug in to block the toughest sanctions on the table.
Former European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted an angry message to European leaders who have so far blocked sanctions. “In this war, everything is real: Putin’s madness and brutality, Ukrainian casualties, bombs falling on Kiev,” he wrote on Friday. “Only your sanctions are fictitious. Those EU governments, which blocked difficult decisions (including Germany, Hungary, Italy) have shamed themselves.”
These nerds saw the invasion of Ukraine begin on Google Maps before Putin said a word
After negotiations failed to deliver on Thursday’s promised “massive sanctions”, European leaders will return to the negotiating table on Friday and likely adopt a so-called “incrementalist” approach, even if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told them he would not. is allowed to speak to them again because Russian special agents are out to kill him. “He told us he doesn’t know if he will be able to speak to us another time, so it’s difficult,” Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said on Friday, according to Reuters. “We need to know how serious the situation in Ukraine is.”
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told reporters on Friday that he was afraid of the Ukrainian leader. “Zelenskyi told us he is hiding somewhere and Ukraine is out of time,” Draghi . said tweet by a reporter† “He was supposed to attend a 9:30 am phone call, but he couldn’t come.”
Among the exclusions that many European leaders want to “hold their sleeves in” are visa-free travel to Europe for Russian diplomats and anything that would make it difficult for countries to pay for Russian energy.
Leaders, speaking at the end of Thursday’s talks, admitted it was difficult to punish Putin. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters that “more work needs to be done to assess what happens if Russia is cut off” regarding Russia’s blocking of using SWIFT, as has been suggested by most G7 leaders outside Europe .
Some of the sanctions likely to be implemented include restricting Russia’s access to some of Europe’s financial services, banning the sale of equipment to Russian oil refineries, and blocking the sale of European aircraft to Russian airlines. Also on the table are specific oligarchs, such as those who own property in Italy, Malta and Spain – and whose superyachts have mostly all disappeared suspiciously from ports in Sardinia and elsewhere, likely moored in friendlier waters.
An unnamed EU diplomat expressed frustration with his colleagues to the Financial Times. “The question is, where do we wait for the other sanctions?” he said. “If we can’t do Swift, can we at least be slow with oligarchs?”
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