The EU’s ‘tougher’ sanctions against Russia must be used as a step toward greater engagement, not simply as a punishment

On 29 July, EU governments approved a number of new sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis. Borja Guijarro-Usobiaga writes on the likely impact of the new sanctions, arguing that rather than simply using sanctions as a method for punishing Russia, they must be seen as a stepping stone to promote greater engagement with the country. He notes that alienating Russia would not only pose a problem for the crisis in Ukraine, but also for other conflicts such as the civil war in Syria.