When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his war on Ukraine, many officials and international affairs experts acknowledged that the United States and other Western powers would likely be limited to responses that would only inflict pain on Russia over time.
“Sanctions raise the costs to Russia of launching this war in the middle of Europe, but generally speaking they’re not going to get you results tomorrow,” says Bruce Jentleson, a professor at Duke University and an adviser to the State Department during the Obama administration.
Why We Wrote This
Deterrence is based on a threat – but can demand patience with measures that take time to be felt. Now escalating fighting in Ukraine is spurring a widespread shift in many nations toward demands for tougher – and more immediate – action.
In comments Monday with reporters, senior Biden administration officials said the financial measures adopted over the weekend by Western leaders aimed to make the “war of choice” a strategic blunder for Mr. Putin. Noting the signs Monday of economic instability in Russia, one official said, “The strategy is to make sure the Russian economy goes backward as long as President Putin goes forward with his invasion of Ukraine.”
But on display now around the world, at rallies from New York to Berlin, is a broad frustration with the limited deterrent ability of slow-moving sanctions. The global message – underscored by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s video dispatches from a besieged Kyiv – seemed to be that timid measures aimed at punishing Russia over time were not enough.
NEW YORK
At a spirited pro-Ukraine rally in New York’s Washington Square Park Sunday, more than one of the dozens of hand-lettered signs implored President Joe Biden to do more to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
“Biden stop World War 3,” read one. “Biden Stop Putin Save Ukraine,” read…
