(22 Feb 2022) An analyst on Tuesday described the UK's sanctions against Russia as weak after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the U.K. would slap sanctions on five Russian banks and three wealthy individuals.
It "frankly shows a little bit of weakness in the face of (Russian President) Vladimir Putin's bullying," said , Assistant Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham, Tyler Kustra.
Shocked by Putin's order to deploy troops to separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, world leaders moved quickly Tuesday to impose as forceful a response as possible in hopes of averting a full-blown war in Europe.
Germany made the first big move, taking steps to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia — a lucrative deal long sought by Moscow, but criticized by the U.S. for increasing Europe's reliance on Russian energy supplies.
"The Germans are taking a much harder line than we expected," Kustra said, adding that the U.K. can do more to pressure "Putin's friends" who live in the U.K.
The rest of the European Union also put some of its cards on the table, saying its sanctions would take aim at several Russian officials, banks financing the Russian armed forces and include limiting Moscow's access to EU capital and financial markets.
The United States was moving closer to sanctions too, with the White House calling Russia's troop deployments an "invasion" — a red line that President Joe Biden has said would result in heavy U.S. sanctions against Moscow. Action could follow late Tuesday.
The West insisted Putin's bold moves in Ukraine violated countless international agreements and since diplomacy has failed, it was time to move towards action.
Western powers have long made clear the fate of Ukraine wasn't worth a direct military confrontation with Russia and the potential of a world war, so sanctions were the only, limited, option to crystalise their anger.
Kustra said there have to be "serious consequences", adding that "at a bare minimum, we should make the Russian economy scream".
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