Opinion | The sanctions against Russia still have holes. Here’s how to plug them.

They certainly weakened the Russian economy. But only the optimists believed that sanctions would make Putin change his mind and withdraw his army from Ukraine. Instead, the purpose of these sanctions should be to limit Russia’s ability to wage this war against Ukraine – to force, not persuade, Putin to end his invasion. To date there have been some successes, but the experience of the last six months also shows that there is still a lot to do. We have several proposals for measures that we think make sense.

Targeted export controls on sensitive technologies have proven particularly effective at limiting Russia’s ability to resupply precision weapons. Over time, this disruption of sophisticated technology components, most notably chips that Russia cannot manufacture, will weaken Moscow’s military capabilities.

Now the democratic world must impose additional import restrictions on technologies such as aircraft parts, sonar systems, antennas, spectrophotometers, test equipment, GPS systems, vacuum pumps and oilfield equipment. Russia should not be able to receive high-tech imports at all, as most technology is ultimately dual-use. Any technology that helps Russia’s economy also helps Putin kill more Ukrainians.

In the longer term, the exodus of tens of thousands of Russian high-tech workers triggered by Putin’s war will also further diminish Russia’s military-industrial base. In the future, the West should do more to facilitate a massive Russian brain drain. Democratic countries should make it easier to accept technologically-savvy Russian immigrants through a variety of residency and economic incentives. Europe and the United States must also facilitate immigration for political and media opponents of the Putin regime to help further divide Putin from the Russian people.

Sanctions have also disrupted foreign direct investment, leading to shortages of food, medicines and materials. Impressively, about a thousand foreign companies have left Russia; Most will never come back. This not only affects the range of goods and services; It will also affect technology transfer and innovation in a variety of industries across Russia, particularly in the energy sector.

But more should be done. Democratic governments need to put more pressure on their companies that have not yet left Russia. Foreign companies that aid Putin’s war machine, even by simply paying taxes, should also face sanctions. The international community should also force countries like Turkey, Georgia and Kazakhstan – which are currently helping to circumvent existing sanctions – to halt ongoing smuggling operations.

Sanctions against Russian individuals have had real and lasting results. The efforts made by Russian oligarchs to circumvent or de-list the sanctions suggest that the sanctions are working.

Yet sanctions have still not been imposed on thousands of Russian officials, party leaders, regional leaders, board members of Russian state-controlled companies, propagandists and celebrities who support the war. It’s time to add them to the list. Those in third countries who help Putin – like former oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, the de facto ruler of Georgia – should know that they too could face sanctions if they do not support Putin’s barbaric invasion. Any individual who supports Russia’s war in Ukraine, even indirectly or passively, should pay a price.

So far, sanctions have been ineffective in targeting Russia’s fossil fuel exports, the main source of revenue for Russia’s war effort against Ukraine. Tragically, but predictably, Putin’s war has dramatically pushed up global energy prices and brought the Kremlin windfall short-term gains. Western leaders have also deliberately left loopholes in the sanctions regime to allow governments and companies to continue buying Russian energy. (For example, Gazprombank, a key financial institution for Russia’s state-controlled natural gas company, remained untouched.)

The good news here is that more is already planned. By the end of the year, the European Union is planning drastic cuts in fossil fuel imports from Russia, and the Group of Seven plans to implement an innovative idea to limit the price of Russian oil exports worldwide. The prospect of that price cap is already forcing Russia to sell oil at discounted prices. Democratic leaders around the world must credibly signal their willingness to put pressure on their banks, insurance companies and shipping companies to enforce the price cap. Consumers living in the free world must stop funding Putin’s war by buying Russian oil and gas.

Finally, democracies must signal their intention to maintain sanctions until three outcomes are achieved: Ukraine must regain all of its territory, including Crimea; Russia must pay full war reparations to Ukraine; and Russian war criminals must be brought to justice. The leaders of the free world must resist the temptation to offer partial sanctions relief for incremental changes in Russia’s war effort, and they should never do anything about sanctions relief without the approval of the Ukrainian government.

Expanding and maintaining sanctions will be costly for the United States, Canada and Europe. But that is the price we must pay for decades of failure to confront Putin’s authoritarian and imperial policies. Fortunately, the nations of the free world pay these costs exclusively with money; Ukrainians pay with blood.