The expert proposed to completely stop trade with Russia

“People may think that this is too extreme a step. But we have now come to the point where there are so many restrictions that it is easier to say that there is only one restriction – no trade. And then make some exceptions, for example, for medicines that can be transported across the border. It will be much easier than now, when everything needs to be checked,” the expert said.

According to Keating, sanctions developers are clearly lacking ideas, and there is a risk that the form of the sanctions package is becoming more important than its content. Therefore, European Union (EU) policymakers should not focus so much on the new sanctions packages, but rather focus more on the sanctions already in place and whether they are actually effective.

“It may not even be appropriate to talk about sanctions right now. We need to talk about export controls. If we put another Russian general or someone else on the sanctions list, fine, but we need to focus on trade and only trade, on goods that “Russia receives. The real heroes of the EU now should be customs officers, because they are the ones who must ensure that what the Russian armed forces need does not end up in Russia,” the RUSI representative emphasized.

Speaking about how the EU is handling the implementation of sanctions against Russia, Keating stressed that the biggest mistake is to sit back and not fully use the adopted tools, because at the beginning everyone thought that the main job was to develop sanctions, not in their implementation.

“I support the use of sanctions and their potential, so I’m disappointed that we’re not giving sanctions the maximum opportunity. We’re making uncertain decisions because we’re worried about how it will affect our companies in Russia that are still there, or “, how this will affect Russia, our energy situation. But we had two years to understand this,” Keating emphasized.

At the same time, he acknowledged that the EU has made significant progress compared to the sanctions two years ago.

He also expressed hope that in the future there will be more pressure on companies trying to circumvent sanctions.

An important event, according to Keating, was the 12th package of sanctions adopted at the end of last year, which included a clause banning re-exports. This obliges EU companies to include a non-re-export clause in contracts with importers, for example, in Kazakhstan. A directive was also adopted to criminalize sanctions evasion.

“In fact, from my own experience working in a bank, I know that nothing makes you change your approach to work like when the authorities punish one of your competitors, and you realize that it could be you. You need to punish several people or several companies to change the attitude of the private sector,” the expert noted.