Today’s issue of the Danish newspaper “Berlingske” published an article by former Danish Foreign Minister and former chairman of the Danish Foreign Policy Society Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, in which he raised the topic of the temporary occupation of Crimea by Russia, which is painful for Ukraine and the entire civilized world.

I fully agree with the Minister’s assessments that by launching an armed aggression against Ukraine Russia violated the fundamental norms and principles of international law on which modern relations, world security and international order are based.

As Uffe Ellemann-Jensen correctly notes, “the attack on Crimea was the real turning point in relations between Russia and the rest of the world”.

Political and economic sanctions by Western countries against Russia were a response to Moscow’s aggressive actions and gross violation of international law. They helped to slow down Russian aggression against Ukraine, decreased the possibility of a large-scale invasion, and forced Russia to come to the negotiating table.

However, according to the author of the article, after 7 years it looks like “traditional sanctions do not seem to bite Russia. And there is a risk that Putin will strengthen his internal position if he can portray it as if all domestic difficulties were due to the outside world uniting against Russia. Therefore, the time has come to rethink the effectiveness of the sanctions weapon. New initiatives must be found that really hurt Putin and his supporters without harming ordinary people”.

In my opinion, such a rethinking can be the activities within the Crimean platform. This initiative has been launched by Ukraine to join forces with international partners to de-occupy Crimea and increase pressure on the Putin regime. Such a rethinking could be the strengthening of Western sanctions, for example, against the construction of Nord Stream 2 or in response to violations of human rights by the Russian occupation administration in Crimea.

We must force Russia to retreat and return to the civilized rules of coexistence, where international law prevails. And one should not be afraid that tougher sanctions will “create the basis for strengthening Putin’s position within the country” and justify all his failures in the eyes of Russians. On the contrary, the lack of an adequate response from the civilized world and the policy of appeasement of the aggressor will only provoke him to another violence and disregard for the rules. Unfortunately, there are many such examples in history.