Autocrats, Kleptocrats, and Sanctions

Western sanctions against Belarus finally appear to be targeting Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s enablers in Russia. When the United States, the European Union, Canada, and the United Kingdom announced a new round of sanctions against the Minsk regime this week, one name in particular stood out: Russian businessman Mikhail Gutseriyev, the largest single foreign investor in Belarus who was included on the EU’s list of sanctioned individuals. Given the expanding Russian economic footprint in Belarus and the close ties between the two countries, many are arguing that the West cannot just sanction Belarus alone - it needs to sanction the Putin-Lukashenka axis of autocrats and kleptocrats. The Europeans took a big step in that direction. On this week's Power Vertical Podcast, host Brian Whitmore talks to Ilya Zaslavskiy of the Free Russia Foundation and Paul Massaro of the U.S. Helsinki Commission about what happens next and what should happen next. Enjoy...