Last week’s EU summit produced a historic step – leaders extended sanctions against Russia for 12 months for the first time, signalling unprecedented collective resolve and support for Ukraine.
Yet alumina exports were again left off the sanctions list – against a backdrop of new investigative reporting showing that Aughinish Alumina, a Russian-owned plant in Ireland, may be feeding Russian weapons production and, by extension, Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Wayne Jordash KC, President of Global Rights Compliance Foundation, addressed exactly this contradiction in an interview with France 24 – the gap between Ukraine’s partners’ stated commitment to stopping Russia’s war machine and the structural loopholes that keep it running. He explained what real liability looks like for the company, those who direct it, and the Irish state itself.
“States and companies must avoid complicity in international crimes – complicity is often established on the basis of supplying a war machine deliberately committing international crimes. Sanctions are one of the key mechanisms preventing states from openly or covertly enabling Russia’s war against Ukraine. But they only work if each country takes seriously their responsibility not to become a link in the supply chain of weapons that are being used to violate the UN Charter, prolong the aggression, and deliberately kill and injure civilians. That responsibility also falls on companies, those who run them, and states alike,” said Wayne Jordash KC.
Watch the full interview: