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Wed, 01 Jun, 2022 - 07:20

It has been nearly a month since European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced a “complete ban” on Russian oil.

Whatever the terms of the latest cobbled-together deal to preserve an appearance of European unanimity — exemptions, rouble accounts, timetable extensions — we are fast reaching the point where we must acknowledge that sanctions are not doing any sort of job in turning back the Russian juggernaut in the Ukraine and are not likely to do so in the foreseeable future. Military aid has had an impact, although it has been more meaningful from some countries than others. That is where the effort must go.

The battle is turning against Ukrainian forces in the Donbas district of Luhansk and in the key cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk. Once that region is swallowed, the Russians may further regroup and then move westwards. And then the problems will become ever more acute for the Ukrainians, for Nato, and for the EU.