Rachel Alpert, co-chair of National Security, Sanctions and Export Controls for Jenner & Block, joined Cheddar News to break down sanctions on Russia.


Cheddar Politics

Expert Breaks Down International Sanctions On Russia

Welcome back to Cheddar politics. Everyone we are entering the third week of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The United States and much of europe have come together to levy some of the harshest sanctions ever on Russia in response, we're going to break those sanctions down for you joining us now to help us do that very thing is Rachel Albert, she is a co chair of national security sanctions and export controls for Jenner and block Rachel. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being on and before that you were at the Department of State for seven years and we really appreciate your time and insight. You have said that the sanctions already imposed, make a strong first volley. Can you walk us through the sanctions we've seen so far that will hit Russia the hardest here. Yeah. And we've seen a number and they keep changing. Um but I think the facet of sanctions that is having the greatest impact is the multilateral approach to sanctions that we're seeing. So there have been a number of designations of banks which have cut Russia off from the international financial system recently. We saw cutting Russia off further through swift and also sanctions impacting the energy sector and the oil sector in Russia and their ability to export items out to the rest of the world. The repercussions of this are maybe unforeseen by Russia and that the level of international coordination is really unprecedented outside of the United Nations. So here we have a number of countries around the world working together to impose coordinated sanctions, even though the U. N. Is not acting because Russia has a veto. Me and my co host just a moment ago, we're talking about Janet Yellen, the Treasury Secretary considering more sanctions against Russia. If we already saw the first round of sanctions, what are we holding in reserve for future sanctions as we move forward? There's still a lot of room to grow. Even though we've seen sanctions on a number of banks, a number of individuals, there could be harder sanctions on banks. More blocking sanctions on more banks, more individuals could be designated and that's just the basics. Additional sectors of Russia's economy could be subjected to sanctions right now we have sanctions on the financial sector, technology sector, military related sectors, there are more, there could be raw materials that become subject to sanctions, other sectors related to aerospace or the automotive industry's a number of areas. And then as a further step, the government of Russia could itself be subjected to sanctions as a whole. Like we saw eventually in Venezuela, with the government of Venezuela being sanctioned and then finally kind of the highest level and one dist form of sanction would be an embargo on Russia as a whole. Like with Iran and with cuBA we've been reporting on the hospital bombing, in Mariupol with you know, the maternity ward and of course the Children Secretary Blinken has said that he's seen evidence that Russia is intentionally targeting civilians and the head of the W. H. O. Has confirmed at least 18 instances of targeting medical facilities like the ones we saw yesterday and of course ambulances. What action do you think Russia needs to take to prompt europe and the US to go for a second round of sanctions? Well, I think we've we've seen a couple rounds of sanctions so far and and those actions are just horrendous and and truly terrible. And and really we've heard a number of allegations now of of war crimes being carried out. Um So so these sanctions now are perhaps even less directly in response to events on the ground, But rather an effort as a whole to really strangle Russia's ability to continue to carry out this war number one to to remove Putin's support base both within the government and also among the Russian population as a whole as they suffer. The brunt of sanctions themselves that are imposed in response to these horrendous events. And then three to get Russia to the negotiating table and have something with which to negotiate, just like with the J. C. P. O. A. And the Iran deal where removal of sanctions is a real incentive to get Iran to talk. Perhaps there's hope that sanctions might be a tool that can be used in that context rushed as well. Eventually Rachel. What do you think the next package might look like? You know, that's a good question. And and one can only guess. And you know, we saw this morning, um, the UK sanctioned, uh, Abramovich, who has not been sanctioned in the US, there are a number of individuals who will likely be sanctioned. And I expect we'll see kind of additional individuals in different countries being subject to sanctions. Otherwise I wouldn't be surprised if additional industries within Russia might also be sanctioned. And I'm guessing that the US government is carefully considering anything that could potentially support Russia's military industrial complex, and will likely find ways to try to impose higher broader sanctions that impact those industries in particular, and also export controls, which have been a very critical tool in this space. You know, we have to talk about Russia not changing course here despite some serious economic difficulties so far, what do you think is necessary on the sanctions front to begin to influence Russia's behavior here? You know, I think sanctions are one of the tools in the arsenal that's being used, and they're important. I don't know that sanctions are alone are going to do it. There's going to be a combination of sanctions actions, not through sanctions, but by other businesses and international bodies. As we've seen, companies pulling out of Russia, even if they don't necessarily have to, from a sanctions perspective, international sports federations kicking them out, not dealing with them. So perhaps some combination of that in conjunction with real military assistance and support and humanitarian support to Ukraine might get Russia to the negotiating table at some point, we've seen fits and starts of discussions here. And I think the hope is that as we kind of continue to to ratchet things up on the sanctions front at some point, Putin will just be forced to go to the table just about 20 minutes ago, the EU foreign policy chief said Putin failed in this belief that he was going to conquer Ukraine. I know this is a sector you follow very closely. Do you think many analysts or, you know, world leaders expected this fight back from Ukraine when it came to Russia's invasion? You know, it's a it's a good question. I think there was certainly a lot of hope that that Ukraine would be able to put up the degree of a fight that we've seen. I think one thing that's taken many by surprise is the lack of preparedness among Russia's military. Um, and perhaps the combination of the two has led to the position we're in, and also kind of the great part and and fight we've seen among the Ukrainian people and also the level of international support, not directly in the country, but but surrounding and in other ways it's all helped to support the situation. But I think, you know, nobody could have predicted exactly the trajectory here. And I think we're all still waiting to see exactly how it all plays out Rachel. Albert's co chair of national security sanctions and export controls for general and block Rachel. Thank you so much. We really, really appreciate the context here.