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Leonid Bershidsky

Germany Is Right to Flout Russia Sanctions

Sanctions are mainly of political value, so Germany wants to limit their economic cost.
Still friends?

Still friends?

Photographer: ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images

Germany has rallied Europe in support of Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia, but has been less diligent in their implementation. German leaders back these ineffectual measures primarily to humor the U.S. and are rightly unwilling to suffer too much for them.

In a recent speech to her CDU party, which ended with a nine-minute standing ovation, Chancellor Angela Merkel said of the sanctions: