Western sanctions on Russian oil have failed. Were they ever meant to succeed?

Sanctions begun more than a year ago have hardly dented Russia’s ability to wage war, setting the stage for a difficult year on Ukraine’s battlefields

In December 2022, the European Union banned imports of Russian crude oil in a bid to starve the Russian war machine into submission.

A year later, the ban appears to be a failure.

The Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), which monitors Russian oil sales, estimates that Moscow will make $178bn from oil sales this year, rising to about $200bn next year.

These amo…