These pathetic sanctions won’t hurt Putin. He’ll be laughing all the way to his dacha

‘Boris Johnson didn’t even know who we have already sanctioned, claiming that Roman Abramovich was on the list.’ Photograph: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/PA

Well, blow me down with a feather duster. That’s basically what the government has announced today: we are going to blow Vladimir Putin down with a feather duster.

These aren’t meaningful sanctions. They are the bare minimum of what we should have done weeks ago, when Putin first announced that he did not respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine. They are not a proper response to Putin’s declaration of independence for Donetsk and Luhansk and his sending in of troops. I don’t doubt that Putin is laughing his way to his dacha. His mocking sidekick Dmitry Medvedev said as much yesterday.