Sanctions against Russia cannot be fully "watertight" – Dutch Ambassador to Ukraine

Alle Dorhout, Dutch Ambassador to Ukraine,  has said that sanctions against Russia cannot be entirely "watertight": until every country introduces and enforces them, the sanctions will continue to have large loopholes.

Dorhout was asked in an interview with Ukrinform what could be done to prevent Russia from evading sanctions.

He said the most important thing was to understand that sanctions are a tool for exerting external political pressure.

"And it is only one of the tools available–an important one, but not watertight. It is difficult to introduce sanctions that would be 100% watertight," Dorhout said.

He said that without every country introducing and enforcing sanctions, and while "China, for instance, supplied Russia with goods required by its defence industry, there will be large loopholes in the sanctions".

Still, Dorhout said he hopes that following the recent introduction of the 15th sanctions package by the European Union, the 16th such package will be introduced under the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union (lasting from 1 January to 30 June 2025).

"We are working on improving our sanctions again and again, but we understand that certain loopholes will always remain," he said.

Dorhout also asserted that Russia’s defence industry should be the urgent target for sanctions.

"But again, it is extremely difficult. It is very difficult for the European Union and its partners to break Russia’s union with North Korea and Iran and Russia’s important economic ties with China," he explained.

On 19 December, Bloomberg reported that the Group of Seven countries are discussing a possible reduction in the so-called price cap for Russian oil transported by sea to limit Russia's oil revenues.

On 16 December, the Council of the European Union adopted the 15th package of economic and individual restrictive measures, which included North Korean officials and Chinese suppliers of drone kits.

On 25 December, the Washington Post reported that Joe Biden’s administration has been considering the introduction of new "serious sanctions" targeting Russia's energy sector before the end of the US president’s term.