WESTERN COUNTRIES have moved swiftly to impose a first tranche of economic sanctions on Russia after President Vladimir Putin recognised the independence of two breakaway enclaves in eastern Ukraine and ordered Russian troops to be deployed to them. On February 22nd America, Britain and the EU rolled out measures that include restrictions on the sale of Russian debt, the freezing of assets of Russian oligarchs and their children, banks and parliamentarians—and threatened more if Russian troops attacked territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. Most striking was Germany’s unexpected decision to suspend the permitting of Nord Stream 2 (NS2), an undersea pipeline intended to carry more gas from Russia to Germany.
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