The Geneva International Sanctions Network (GISN), convened by Thomas Biersteker, Gasteyger Professor Honoraire at the Geneva Graduate Institute, brought together Ukrainian researchers and practitioners to examine how Russia circumvents G7 sanctions.
Biersteker framed the discussion through a "sanctions cycle" or design, implementation, monitoring, enforcement, and redesign, while speakers Darya Kuzmina, Hanna Tkachenko, and Bohdan Bernatskyi drew on customs data, field research, and legal analysis to trace how Russia continues to access Western technologies through third-country trade hubs such as Hong Kong, Turkey, and South Korea.
The discussion focused on questions of who should act, the moral and economic trade-offs of expanding sanctions, and the risks of targeting China. Participants agreed on the need for greater dialogue, transparency, and stronger enforcement coordination across the sanctions regime.