Since 2022, sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine have escalated, with comprehensive measures including export controls and individual sanctions. However, two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s economy is recovering, and the war is continuing. Why have sanctions failed to impede Russian aggression? What could have been done differently, and what are the lessons for the future?

Please join us for a talk with Elina Ribakova about the Russian economic sanctions, her team's work on tracing violations, and the aggregate effects of the sanctions regime in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Elina Ribakova is a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) in Washington D.C., a nonresident fellow at Bruegel, the economic policy think tank, and director of the international affairs program and vice president for foreign policy at the Kyiv School of Economics in Ukraine. Her research focuses on global markets, economic statecraft, and economic sovereignty. Ribakova has over 25 years of experience with financial markets and research. Ribakova was an economist at the International Monetary Fund in Washington (1999–2008), working on financial stability, macroeconomic policy design for commodity-exporting countries, and fiscal policy. She has held several senior-level roles, including deputy chief economist at the Institute of International Finance, managing director and head of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Research at Deutsche Bank in London, leadership positions at Amundi (Pioneer) Asset Management, and director and chief economist for Russia and the Commonwealth for Independent States (CIS) at Citigroup. She was a senior adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security (2020–23) and a research fellow at the London School of Economics (2015–17).