but just to stick with the sanctions as they currently exist, you did write this a few weeks ago. you did write, they re more extreme than i ever imagined, even more than perhaps i would have asked for based on what i thought the west was capable of. and you seem there to be particularly focused on the measures taken against a host of so called oligarchs, these huge multibillionaire businessmen who have had long association with vladimir putin. do you think you overestimated the impact the sanctions on the oligarchs would have? well, so, first of all, why are oligarchs important? the oligarchs are important because they are the people who hold putin s money for him. so, if you want to sanction putin, if you want to penalise him financially, you ve got to sanction the oligarchs. can you prove that, by the way? well, you can t prove it to a court standard for one simple reason, because the reason putin doesn t hold money in his own name is he doesn t want anyone
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