Targeting individuals better than imposing sanctions, says Khodorkovsky in Prague

Speaking at the Forum 2000 conference in Prague, the Russian former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky said the West ought to decide whether it should do business with certain Russians rather than imposing sanctions on the whole country. He made the comments in a debate held on Monday night at the Václav Havel Library as part of this year’s edition of Forum 2000, which was co-founded by Mr. Havel. Mr. Khodorkovsky said targeting individuals may look similar to sanctions but was in fact different. The West imposed sanctions against Russia over its actions connected to the crisis in Ukraine. Once Russia’s richest man, Mr. Khodorkovsky spent a decade behind bars for tax evasion after falling foul of President Vladimir Putin.