A proposal to lift Western sanctions on the Putin regime in exchange for the release of political prisoners is being actively discussed in the Russian opposition. Without detracting from the humanitarian aspects of the issue, the Free Russia Forum Council considers this proposal immoral and cynical.
It is clear that any relaxation will only confirm the dictator’s intentions to continue and expand the war, killing more people and taking more hostages.
The sanctions were imposed in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine, not to repression in Russia. The call for the lifting of sanctions from Russian opposition figures is a blatant disrespect for the millions of Ukrainians who are standing up to the evil of Putin’s Russia at the cost of their lives.
Sanctions weaken the economic and military potential of Putin’s Russia. Every shell that hits the homes of Ukrainian civilians is the result of the continued economic power of the aggressor. It is clear that weakening sanctions will strengthen Putin’s war machine and lead to even more Ukrainian casualties.
Moreover, sanctions are not only an instrument of economic pressure, but also a just retribution for the countless bloody crimes of Putin’s gang: murders, kidnappings, extrajudicial executions and cities wiped off the face of the earth. Talking about lifting sanctions on an aggressor State in the face of ongoing war and crimes is unethical to millions of Ukrainians.
Also, we should not forget that trading the freedom of hostages is another incentive for the fascist regime to seize new ones. It would not be difficult for the punitive authorities to send hundreds and thousands of people to prison to try to trade them for new concessions in the future.
The only way to free political prisoners is to defeat Putin’s regime on the battlefield. War and terror can only end with the victory of Ukraine and the collapse of the empire.
Of course, we understand that the process of optimizing sanctions is objectively necessary. Just as we understand the need for negotiations on prisoner exchange and other contacts with Russia (as was the case under the so-called grain deal). But any such activity should be carried out on the basis of Ukraine’s interests and strengthening its ability to provide effective resistance to the aggressor. And in this regard, the release of Russian political prisoners cannot objectively take priority over, for example, the release of all Ukrainian prisoners of war.
We – the Free Russia Forum – categorically condemn the proposal to lift sanctions against the Putin regime in exchange for political prisoners and call on opposition-minded Russians to dissociate themselves from this position as soon as possible. At the same time, we express our solidarity with the Ukrainian people in their opposition to Russian aggression and call on Western countries to increase military and financial support for Ukraine, including, first and foremost, the supply of modern weapons and the lifting of restrictions on their use on the territory of the aggressor country. We also call on Western countries to influence the fate of thousands of civilian Ukrainian prisoners held in Russian death camps.
We welcome the intensification of the Ukrainian armed forces’ offensive operation in the Kursk region, which is taking place at this very moment. The liberation of new territories from Putinism inspires cautious optimism and convinces us that Putin’s regime is not as strong as it may seem and that the outcome of military action is not at all a foregone conclusion.
Victory to Ukraine, Freedom to Russia!
The Free Russia Forum Council,
January 8, 2025.
