Negotiated settlement, not sanctions, the right way to end the Ukraine crisis

Although Kaja Kallas, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, attributed the bloc's failure to approve its 18th Russia-related sanctions package on Tuesday to Slovakia blocking it, citing energy concerns, she cannot deny that the member states no longer pin high hopes on ending the Ukraine crisis through sanctions.

Despite the EU imposing 17 rounds of sanctions on Russia so far, in addition to the relentless US sanctions on the country and its major trading partners, the odds on Kyiv winning a victory on the battleground have only become slimmer.

Sanctions have never proved to be an effective way to end a conflict, because they are incapable of addressing the root cause of the conflict.