On February 23rd, 2024, the European Union announced a new list of sanctions including non-Russian companies due to the continuing Russia-Ukraine war. According to an article by Reuters, the 27 additions to the list include companies from China and India due to their continued support and purchases from Russia.
According to an article published by the Financial Times, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that the sanctions were a way to keep pressure on Russia to end the war while also affecting their access to drones used in war. According to Euro News, the EU’s new sanctions are meant to prevent Russia from accessing advanced military technologies and supplies. Ali Ahmadi, a scholar of sanctions who gave an interview to Reuters, says that the sanctions target India and China due to their role in helping Russia circumvent the EU’s existing sanctions. Even if the EU refuses to export military technology, other countries can receive and export them to Russia indirectly.
Sanctions have been an extremely common tool used by the EU and other countries around the world to show their disapproval of Russia’s war efforts. According to the Diplomatic Service of the European Union, existing EU sanctions have already caused Russia significant financial strain and production losses. The additional sanctions are also meant to weaken Russia and countries that have been supporting Russia during the war. However, Ahmadi says that the new sanctions are unlikely to have a big impact on India and China due to the fact that they only target a few specific companies. In fact, the sanctions will probably not have a large impact at all, according to Ahmadi. Instead, they are symbolic of the EU’s continued disapproval of Russia and also represent a warning to India and China to stop supporting Russia or face larger consequences.
Sanctions are necessary by the international community to show solidarity and support for Ukraine. By targeting countries that are associated with Russia’s war efforts, the EU has effectively signaled that there are consequences for supporting Russia. Additionally, the new sanctions are a non-combative way to put pressure on Russia and other countries, though they may be largely ineffective in actually affecting their economies. According to an article by Reuters, China has warned the EU that the sanctions will have a negative impact on their trading relations. However, since the EU is such an important trading partner, this negative impact is necessary to stop transshipment and limit Russia’s access to important technologies.
