G7 can facilitate peace talks by lifting sanctions

Some recent developments concerning the West's response to the Ukraine conflict indicate simmering and widening divisions inside what appears to be a unanimous Western stance over the crisis.

According to reports, the European Union and Japan have pushed back against a United States' proposal for G7 countries to ban all exports to Russia. The proposal aims to replace the current sector-by-sector sanctions regime against Russia with a complete export ban with just a few exemptions.

Washington apparently hopes the new proposal will be adopted by the G7 leaders in their upcoming summit in Hiroshima, Japan, next month, so as to effectively plug the loopholes in the current sanctions regime and tighten the economic shackles on Russia even tighter.

In another development, the US news website Politico reported on Monday that the Joe Biden administration is quietly preparing for the possibility of re-engaging with China with a view to soliciting Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table if Ukraine's spring counteroffensive falls short of expectations. The phone talk between the Chinese and Ukrainian leaders on Wednesday has raised hopes that the necessary conditions can be created for a cease-fire at an early date, and Washington giving its support would consolidate those hopes.

All this shows that after more than one year's all-out support to Ukraine and ever-increasing pressure on Russia, the US and its allies are facing uncertainties on the battlefield and feeling the backlash of their sanctions regime against Russia. Right now, Russia and Ukraine appear to have reached a deadlock in the fighting and allowing the crisis to evolve into a lasting one seems more and more unsustainable to all parties involved.

Sanctions have never worked in resolving regional conflicts. A crisis of the magnitude of the one in Ukraine will not be swayed by the US-led sanctions either. Not to mention that while failing to force Russia to yield, Western sanctions are doing more harm than good to the world economy and the global supply chains.

Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia in the hope of choking its energy export channels and destroying its economy. But those sanctions have backfired, hurt US allies and triggered a worldwide energy crisis. The sanctions have also disrupted trade and aggravated inflation, leaving several economies teetering on the brink of recession.

More and more members of the world community, China included, have aired their proposals for a cease-fire and an end to the Ukraine conflict. After over one year's ceaseless efforts to intensify the hostilities through escalating sanctions and providing weapons and military assistance to Ukraine, Western countries should awaken to the fact that a political settlement is needed more than ever, not more sanctions.

The G7 leaders should view the Ukraine crisis from a long-term and global perspective rather than through an ideological lens tainted with bloc confrontation and a Cold War mentality. They should act in a responsible way at their upcoming G7 summit and call for peace rather than further fanning the flames of the conflict.