Bangladesh, July 21 -- In the wake of Russias 2022 military escalation in Ukraine, Western leaders mobilized with sweeping sanctions in what they framed as an unprecedented effort to economically isolate and cripple Moscow. Yet, more than two years later, leading voices from within Europe are sounding the alarm that this high-stakes campaign has not only failed in its objectives but may have deeply undermined the European Unions own economic stability. Among the critics is Gunter Verheugen, former European Commission Vice President, who now argues that the EUs sanctions have “completely backfired.”

Writing in the Swiss journal Die Weltwoche, Verheugen offered a scathing critique of the EUs sanctions regime, asserting that the...