Western leaders vow to keep punishing Putin

Thu, 24 Mar, 2022 - 21:48

Shona Murray in Brussels

US President Joe Biden and EU leaders have vowed to keep punishing Vladimir Putin, and those who support him, for Russia's unlawful aggression in Ukraine.

Attending a trio of high-level summits in Brussels, President Biden touted Western ‘resolve’ by delivering on a series of sanctions that would have been unthinkable six weeks ago.

"If you’re Putin and you think Europe is going to crack, we have to stay fully totally united. His overwhelming objective is to demonstrate that democracies cannot function in the 21st century… and autocracies are going to rule," he told reporters.

But while the West has been in lock-step over the need for paralyzing sanctions against Putin, there isn’t the same clarity at the EU as to the exact makeup of further sanctions.

Poland and the Baltic countries including Ireland are calling for more hardline action on all energy sources - oil, gas and coal.

But for now, they appear to be an impossibility for countries like Germany and other countries like Italy and Hungary who have heavy reliance on Russian oil and gas.

“The sanctions have to have more pain on Russia than on ourselves, this is probably not a short war, it will continue to drag on," an EU source said.

Our key strength is our economic strength – theirs is economic weakness, but we can’t decimate European economies."

Brussels believes sanctioning oil will lead to a rise in the prices globally, amid already rising energy prices. Until the EU can be free of Russian energy, such a move is seen as imposing too much self-harm, "and in the end, Putin can simply sell the oil to other buyers like India," said a source.

Yet as the war escalates and human suffering becomes ever more unbearable, it's highly possible the EU will find a way to move further on energy sources.

Particularly in the event of the use of chemical or biological weapons, which could spread by contamination to the rest of Europe. This is a scenario the EU and Nato is actively preparing a response for.

Meanwhile, sources say Germany is pushing for sanctions on parts of the tech sector as means of finding other areas to punish Putin.

Ireland is positioning itself in the camp demanding maximum pressure on Russia. The Irish economy is less exposed than other EU states to Russian trade, and energy.

“We need the widest and strongest set of sanctions to put pressure on Putin’s regime," said Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

“But obviously there are implications for other member states in respect of energy,” he told reporters after a last-minute dash to attend the summit following his Covid-19 diagnosis last week.

“Ireland is open to more sanctions but also to make sure that we enforce the sanctions that we have, which are the most severe sanctions ever defined by the European Union against aggressive action like this.

"We are very open to more sanctions but we want make sure the existing ones are not circumvented,” he said.

As Biden joined his EU counterparts for an historic summit – the first time a US president has joined in person - under scrutiny, alongside the topic of scaling up sanctions, was potential repercussions for other economic powerhouses like China, and India for continuing their support of Russia.

Micheál Martin said the position of such countries sanctions is "unacceptable, frankly”.

"Certain countries need to get off the fence in relation to that.

"People cannot stand on the sidelines here. In terms of this barbaric war.”