War in Ukraine – Sanctions – The other side of victory

For Ukraine today, the position of the West is crucial. I recently came across an op-ed article titled “Ukraine’s Drive to Root Out Corruption Is a Race Against Time” by Stephen Blank, published in The Hill. Blank is a leading researcher, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, PhD, former professor of national security and Russian national security studies at the Institute for Strategic Studies of the US Army War College.

I consider him a classic anti-Russian hawk who has opposed Kremlin expansion throughout his career and pushed for the supply of American weapons to Ukraine five years before the full Russian invasion. Blank mainly analyzes the danger of corruption in public administration. Generally related to the fact that corruption makes this system ineffective and weakens the affected country in war. The imposition of sanctions against Russia is no exception. Unfortunately, most of the sanctions imposed by Ukraine are not supported by Western partners.

Fight against corruption
But why did this happen? Spoiler alert – not because of the whims of our partners, but because of the lack of transparency, the inconsistency, the irregularities in the legislation and, so to speak, the arbitrariness of the sanctions process, which sometimes seems like arbitrariness.Why is it useful to pay attention to Blank’s opinion? His text is not a judgment, but a series of advice. He emphasizes that corruption is not a unique problem to Ukraine. However, it is a factor in the survival of our country.

“Corruption allegations are shaping the political landscape from Washington to Beijing and Kuala Lumpur. Due to numerous scandals, politics is no longer the center of the debate. Especially in times of war, corruption undermines the survival of the population. “No one is more desperate about this than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, because Kiev must root out corruption if it wants to survive,” Blank writes.It also draws attention to the state of the legal system and specific cases of corruption in government and military procurement.

“When several senior judges of the Ukrainian Supreme Court were arrested on corruption charges, questions focused on the appointments and not just on what the judges had done. Many of these measures are motivated by legitimate US and EU demands for a less corrupt government. And in fact, Zelensky is now calling on parliament to equate the corruption cases with wartime treason. But despite the high-profile firings, corruption in Ukraine remains widespread in the areas of military procurement and military logistics. These questions can only be clarified over time and through thorough investigative and judicial work,” Blank wrote.

The American analyst cites Russia as an example, pointing out that corruption in the country’s military leadership, especially Shoigu, explains why Russia has performed an embarrassing job in this war so far. One of our goals in this war is obviously not to become a ‘Little Russia’.In this context, the analyst mentions the appointment of a Workgroup by the US government to root out corruption in US aid to Ukraine, noting that corruption is considered the enemy of good governance.

Opaque sanctions
Much of his report is devoted to the topic of sanctions, which Blank characterizes as the “cornerstone of economic warfare,” and he begins with good news about the Ukrainians’ performance. “Ukraine is at the forefront of global efforts through its example and the valuable research work of the Yermak-McFall bilateral international expert group,” Blank said.

However, he also emphasizes that the “independence” of the sanctions imposed by Ukraine on the country’s judiciary is a cruel joke. “While Western sanctions are generally based on transparent criteria, the Ukrainian sanctions system is opaque and lacks judicial review. “Ukrainian partners in Washington, Brussels and other capitals do not know how to deal with the growing number of companies in Ukraine and other countries that claim that Kiev has wrongly imposed sanctions on them,” the expert explained.

Blank explicitly demands that the sanctions process must be protected from corruption and outside influences and that security measures must be put in place to ensure that no errors occur. The temptation is to use sanctions to destroy competitors or exact personal revenge. This has happened more than once in the history of Ukraine. And of course this is common knowledge in Washington.

“The use of sanctions must be protected against corruption and influence peddling. If Ukraine wrongly imposes sanctions on domestic or foreign companies, it must ensure an accurate and lawful appeals process that respects the rule of law. This is one of the main differences between the Ukrainian and Western sanctions regimes, which require harmonization. If the abuse of war sanctions spreads and becomes an excuse to settle scores or undermine economic competition, neither Ukraine nor the West will benefit. Russia will benefit from this,” Blank emphasizes.

Less corruption leads to victory
At the same time, he emphasizes that these “shortcomings are not accusations against Ukraine or sanctions” and makes appropriate suggestions for solving problems. The solution to these problems lies in closer cooperation between the Ukrainian authorities, as well as in multilateral consultations and cooperation that guarantee transparency and synchronization of sanctions. The future reconstruction of Ukraine and its integration into Western institutions will only be possible if there is transparency and the highest level of anti-corruption measures.

In times of war there is a temptation to suppress criticism of friends and allies and to justify mistakes as acceptable incidental damage. This view ignores the impact that imposing corruption sanctions has on the state, the economy and society.

Protracted wars become a race between victory at the front and collapse at home. Russia has lost this race several times. In this competition, a less corrupt state is more resilient. Strengthening Ukraine’s ability to resist Russia and ultimately integrate with the West is the only key to success.It’s hard to argue about that. It is also clear that Ukraine has little time to update its sanctions mechanism