How the international sanctions game is played
Do the sanctions extend to the family members of targeted individuals?
Not automatically, says Bond. "They won't automatically extend to relatives, but they will, for example, extend to shell companies where the EU or the US can identify that the controlling interest is held by a person who is subject to sanctions," he says.
Why hasn't Russian president Vladimir Putin been sanctioned?
Ian Bond says doing so is the "nuclear option" of targeted sanctions. "And I guess that everybody is trying not to go for steps that are really at the top of the list of things that could be done," he adds. "There is still a lot more that could go wrong, a lot more ways in which Russia could interfere in Ukraine and make the situation worse."
What about possible sanctions against Russian state journalists and publicists such as Sergei Markov or Aleksandr Dugin, who have been actively justifying Russia's intervention in Ukraine?
Bond says sanctions could be imposed upon such people if the West determines they are actively promoting violence or disseminating hate speech. It is, however, an issue on which Europe and the United States might not be able to agree. "I realize that is very difficult territory particularly for the US because of its very strong attachment to the First Amendment" of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech." "It is in some ways less of an issue for Europeans because certainly in countries like Germany, for very good historical reasons, they have pretty strong laws on how far you are allowed to go."
Not automatically, says Bond. "They won't automatically extend to relatives, but they will, for example, extend to shell companies where the EU or the US can identify that the controlling interest is held by a person who is subject to sanctions," he says.
Why hasn't Russian president Vladimir Putin been sanctioned?
Ian Bond says doing so is the "nuclear option" of targeted sanctions. "And I guess that everybody is trying not to go for steps that are really at the top of the list of things that could be done," he adds. "There is still a lot more that could go wrong, a lot more ways in which Russia could interfere in Ukraine and make the situation worse."
What about possible sanctions against Russian state journalists and publicists such as Sergei Markov or Aleksandr Dugin, who have been actively justifying Russia's intervention in Ukraine?
Bond says sanctions could be imposed upon such people if the West determines they are actively promoting violence or disseminating hate speech. It is, however, an issue on which Europe and the United States might not be able to agree. "I realize that is very difficult territory particularly for the US because of its very strong attachment to the First Amendment" of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech." "It is in some ways less of an issue for Europeans because certainly in countries like Germany, for very good historical reasons, they have pretty strong laws on how far you are allowed to go."