러시아ㆍ유라시아

In his keynote, Singh noted that one of the myths about the current sanctions against Russia is that they have “failed” because they haven’t reversed Russia’s actions, when in fact that was never a stated objective of the sanctions. He elaborated on this point in the Q&A, saying that the sanctions were only one tool in the current strategy and that they were designed with global impacts in mind. “It would feel good to have maximal economic shock and awe all the time, spillover effects and secondary consequences be damned,” Singh said, “but that wouldn’t be the best long-term, risk-adjusted strategy for unity, and it wasn’t sustainable.” As to whether he believed the impact of the sanctions would alter Putin’s calculus to continue the war, Singh said sanctions are “probably a distant second” consideration for Putin when compared with the capture of territory. However, relative to the stated objectives of raising the cost of the war for Russia and giving Ukraine strategic leverage, Singh felt the sanctions were doing their job.