ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AS A FOREIGN POLICY TOOL IN THE LIGHT OF RUSSIA`S WAR AGAINST UKRAINE

Abstract

RUSSIA`S WAR AGAINST UKRAINE

The Russian military aggression against Ukraine forced international community to response to the biggest armed conflict in the modern history of Europe by the means of economic sanctions. Most nations condemned Russia`s war against Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russian Federation which are aimed at cutting Russia`s economic ties. After the two world wars in order to prevention such tremendous military conflicts the means of economic restrictions have become an essential tool to response to any kind of abuse by an aggressive state. Economic warfare is considered as an alternative to a conventional one. For this reason, the issue of sanction policy has become an object in international relations, political science, security and peace studies. Since the annexation of Crimea and war unleashed by Russia in the East of Ukraine the issue of sanctions imposition on Russia, their regime and effectiveness have become an object for above-mentioned studies. After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both scholars and politicians have paid more attention to the problem of imposition sanctions on the Russian Federation. The specifics of sanctions imposed on the aggressor country are examined in the article. The purpose of the article is to study the sanction policy carried out by allies and partners of Ukraine against Russia. The article is based on content analysis method of statements and releases of both governments and supranational organizations like the EU and UN, newspaper articles, as well as recently published articles devoted to sanctions. The present analysis is an interim study of the sanction policy against Russia that would be needed to reveal the ineffectiveness/effectiveness of economic sanctions as a reaction to Russian aggression. Subsequently, the analysis of a tool of sanctions can be used  to rethink the importance of economic sanctions as the part of peace building strategy.