On November 25, 2024, members of the UN Security Council held an informal Arria-formula meeting on the topic “The Humanitarian Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures.”
At the meeting, delegates outlined their countries’ positions on the legitimacy of unilateral coercive measures, their compliance with international law and the impact of unilateral sanctions on the humanitarian sphere.
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, described unilateral coercive measures as both unlawful and ineffective. He also drew attention to their devastating impact on humanitarian efforts, stressing that sanctions impede financial and export-import operations, which hinders the procurement of medicines, food and technologies that are essential for the well-being of society.
RIAC Director General Ivan Timofeev participated
in the meeting. He observed that globalization of the world economy and finance
has been one of the core trends over the past decades.
On November 25, 2024, members of the UN Security Council held an informal Arria-formula meeting on the topic “The Humanitarian Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures.”
At the meeting, delegates outlined their countries’ positions on the legitimacy of unilateral coercive measures, their compliance with international law and the impact of unilateral sanctions on the humanitarian sphere.
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, described unilateral coercive measures as both unlawful and ineffective. He also drew attention to their devastating impact on humanitarian efforts, stressing that sanctions impede financial and export-import operations, which hinders the procurement of medicines, food and technologies that are essential for the well-being of society.
RIAC Director General Ivan Timofeev participated in the meeting. He observed that globalization of the world economy and finance has been one of the core trends over the past decades. The United States has emerged as a key player in global finance and positioned itself at the heart of supply chains. The flipside, however, is that the US has weaponized its leading role. The US uses unilateral coercive measures more often than all other countries and international organizations combined, while its dominance in global finance and supply chains amplifies the economic damage caused by sanctions, including in the humanitarian sphere. For instance, significant delays and cancellations resulting from unilateral restrictions have severely impacted humanitarian efforts, despite general and specific licenses being issued for certain humanitarian areas. In some cases, payment costs have risen because banks and financial institutions charge extra fees for the so-called “sanctions risk.”
Another side effect of unilateral sanctions is the rise of semi-legal and illegal schemes related to the supply of goods to sanctioned jurisdictions. This disproportionately harms the most vulnerable populations that depend on humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, banks and suppliers often fail to implement humanitarian exemptions due to overcompliance and fears of secondary sanctions or administrative and criminal prosecution.
I. Timofeev pointed out that the international community is unlikely to compel the initiator countries to abandon their unilateral coercive measures in the foreseeable future. At the same time, Russia and other sanctioned nations are finding ways to counter and adapt to these restrictions. Sanctions on the financial sector, for instance, have spurred efforts to diversify international finance and payments and break the monopoly of the US dollar, which is often used as a weapon. Similar initiatives are seen in technology, where one of the focus areas is import substitution across various industries and reliance on domestic technological solutions. Many sanctioned countries remain vulnerable because they cannot afford effective tools to implement such policies. Nevertheless, progress toward the diversification of finance and supply chains will help democratize global finance and the economy, limit their misuse as tools of coercion and pave the way for a more just multipolar world order.
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