EU Sanctions Against Russia Since Ukraine Crisis

In reaction to the Ukraine Crisis in 2014,the EU enacted its first package of sanctions against Russia,which has been stayed in place ever since.In response to the intensification of the conflict in 2022 and 2023,the EU has launched a number of new sanctions against Russia,including targeted individual sanctions and economic sanctions.The sanctions against Russia are intended to have the greatest possible negative effects not only to deplete the Russia’s military action,but also force it into an isolated island of world politics and economy.The aim of this thesis is to explore the characteristics shown in EU’s adoption of sanctions against Russia since the Ukraine Crisis and explain the rationale for these characteristics.This thesis probes into the details of EU sanctions against Russia by categorising them in different sectors,and then examines the direct economic impacts on Russia,the EU and the global supply chain.This thesis also analyses how EU’s sanctions against Russia politically influence Russia,the EU and the international order.This thesis finds that EU sanctions against Russia since 2014 have been unprecedented in terms of scope,scale and severity in the history of EU sanctions against Russia.In the process of imposing sanctions,the EU shows greater desire to reduce energy dependence on Russia and a less divided attitude among member states.These characteristics could be attributed to three reasons.Firstly,EU’s economic concerns have been overshadowed by its growing geopolitical goals;therefore,EU is willing to impose tougher sanctions even at the cost of huge economic loss.Secondly,the Ukraine Crisis has posed challenges to EU’s security.Furthermore,the United States has put EU under pressure,thus EU has to adopt stricter sanctions to comply with the US.In terms of their economic effects,the sanctions could be harmful for both Russia and the EU.They may even accelerate the de-globalisation trend in the economic filed and reshape the global supply chain.This paper also argues that the geopolitical landscape has been changed as a result of the Ukraine Crisis.Through sanctions weaponised,the western countries have brought profound influence on the global security structure,resulting in the increasing geopolitical tensions.International relations and the global governance system are facing major changes.