“Putin must fail.” These are the words of the British prime minister, Boris Johnson.
The way to do this is via all-out economic warfare, not the weak sanctions and half-measures that have been put in place so far. All political, diplomatic, military and economic means, short of war with Russia, must be deployed in synergy to ensure Ukraine continues to resist and Russia weakens and fails. Providing weapons, supplies and intelligence to the Ukrainian armed forces is key. But much more must be done right now to wage economic warfare to undermine Putin’s capacity to continue this war.
We need to deplete Russian state income by limiting its trade with the west. Every day, the US, UK and EU buy more than $700m worth of oil, gas and other commodities from Russia. Some of Russia’s largest state-owned companies, which are key for commodities trading, have not been sanctioned. Economies in Europe, especially Germany and Italy, must…
