Britain and the West must win the economic war for Ukraine and freedom

It is heartening that the government has responded with such alacrity to calls from Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady, to tighten the sanctions regime on Russia. As she pointed out so forcefully in her exclusive interview with The Independent, many states friendly to Russia are assisting the Kremlin in getting around international sanctions imposed on key individuals and on the wider Russian economy.

Sanctions have had an impact on the Russian war machine, and the exit of many Western industrial groups has denuded its ability to manufacture weapons. However, as Ms Zelenska reminds us, it is tempting for states such as Turkey, Kazakhstan and Armenia to try to leverage some short-term tactical gains from covert assistance to Russia. Even more damaging to Ukraine has been the studied yet misguided neutrality of the likes of South Africa, Brazil and India, while Iran and North Korea, experts in the field of sanctions-busting, have given Vladimir Putin plenty of advice as well as hardware.

China, though more circumspect about supplying single-purpose lethal material, hasn’t strayed too far from its “no limits partnership” with Moscow. Even Saudi Arabia, which recently hosted an international conference on the war with president Volodymyr Zelensky in attendance, has proved unhelpful in managing the post-invasion energy crisis.

As on the battlefield, the West needs to intensify its efforts in the financial war to ensure Ukraine gains the edge in its fight for freedom and the international rule of law. Frustrating as circumstances have proved, the situation is far from hopeless. The US, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada and Britain represent a formidable alliance and have the heft to increase the pressure on Mr Putin. James Cleverly, the UK’s foreign secretary, has announced some 25 new sanctions targeting the Russian president’s access to foreign military equipment. These include individuals and businesses in Turkey, Dubai, Slovakia and Switzerland who are supporting the invasion. Britain is also intervening to stymie Iranian and Belarusian support for Russia’s illegal war. There is no limit to how tight sanctions can be made, up to and including full economic warfare on a scale not seen since the end of the Second World War.

It is disappointing that Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian ground forces is proceeding more slowly than hoped. Last year, before the Russians still had pretensions to conquer the whole of Ukraine, Kyiv’s counteroffensives had the advantage of surprise, determination and speed. Now, even with substantial Western training and armaments, the extensive Russian defences are proving hard to penetrate. This is the recrudescence of static trench warfare more than a hundred years after the First World War, and signals a period of stagnation and attrition before one side or the other gains some decisive advantage. The West seems unaccountably reluctant to offer the Ukrainians the kind of fighter jets President Zelensky has begged for.

It is fair to say, as Ben Wallace, the UK defence secretary, often points out, that it is more than simply flying planes into Kyiv; advanced technology requires training and Formula One-style ground support. But without some more air power, all of the vast and expensive Western armour and missile systems are vulnerable to destruction in any offensive manoeuvre. Drones and anti-missile systems can only do so much; the recent US decision to send cluster bombs is a virtual admission that the jets will be too slow to arrive to make a difference this year. Setbacks or not, the West has no choice in the interests of its own security; Ukraine must win.