David O’Sullivan, the European Union’s sanctions envoy, traveled to Astana on March 17 for the fifth time in three years to speak to Kazakhstan’s authorities about the country’s compliance with the sanctions regime imposed by the West on Russia for its war efforts in Ukraine.Vlast spoke with O’Sullivan about the European Commission’s upcoming 20th sanctions package, currently being negotiated by member states, and the overall effectiveness of the European sanctions regime in curbing Russia’s military actions.In our interview, O’Sullivan commended Kazakhstan for its efforts to prevent sanction circumvention, but stressed that there is still work to be done.How would you assess the effectiveness of European sanctions after four years since the start of the war? The sanctions have been extremely effective. I think if you look at the Russian economy, all the key indicators are flashing red: The economy is nearly in recession – it’s gone from 4% growth a couple of years ago to almost zero, if not even negative growth – inflation is running very high, the interest rate is extremely high, nearly 16%.