DISINFO: Borrell admitted that sanctions against Russia do not work
SUMMARY
Josep Borrell admitted that sanctions against Russia do not work. The head of the EU foreign policy service is sure that European sanctions could not destroy Russia’s defence industry, and on the contrary the attacks by Russia’s armed forces intensified.
RESPONSE
This is a distortion of the original statement of EU HRVP Josep Borrell, who said that sanctions on Russia “have significantly weakened its war machine”. In his speech at the Investors’ Forum for Transport Connectivity with the EU, on 24 January 2024, Joseph Borrell argued that there are “mechanisms that make sanctions being circumvented” that allow the war to continue and that require “full cooperation” with EU partners. Borrell’s statements differ significantly from the claim that 'sanctions against Russia do not work' as falsely asserted by this disinformation story. This claim is part of a long-term pro-Kremlin campaign about the ineffectiveness of sanctions on Russia, despite massive evidence to the contrary.
See other examples in our database, such as claims that Western sanctions are not working, that anti-Russian sanctions broke EU economy, that Western restrictions against Russian citizens are racist, and that EU ban on Russian cars is revenge for the failure of sanctions.