Ranking Member on Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has decried the sanctions imposed by the United States of America and the United Kingdom on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

He said the West's current sanctions imposed on Russia are toothless and lack sincerity since Europe depends heavily on Russia for Oil and Gas needs.

Speaking on Newsfile, the North Tongu MP noted that the only effective sanction that will be hard-hit against Russia is a sanction against its Oil and Gas production.

“So far, all the sanctions have convenience for Russia because Europe depends on Russia for about a quarter of its oil needs and about two-thirds of its gas needs. So they leave out Oil and Gas meanwhile, that is what will get Putin to begin to pull the brakes…Yesterday’s sanction was a joke,” he said.

According to him, despite the heavy dependence on Russia for oil and gas needs by Europe, the United States could go ahead and sanction Russia against Oil and Gas production if, indeed, it is committed to protecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Ablakwa explained that America could enforce sanctions on Oil and Gas against Russia and release some of its largest strategic petroleum reserves to allied nations to alleviate the sanction's brunt.

Okudzeto Ablakwa believes that the United Nations must be blamed for the current crisis in Ukraine. Referencing the power of the permanent five countries, including Russia, to veto any decision taken by the United Nations Security Council, he noted that there must be reforms in the international orders of the United Nations.

“How does the United Nations feel when the whole world saw the UN Security Council meeting yesterday? Ironically, Russia has taken its position as chairman of the UN Security Council now; they are chairing the Security Council.

"Their permanent rep vetoed the decision that sixteen member countries including Ghana…Yesterday only Russia vetoed any progress to be made by the United Nations, so the United Nations has become impotent; we cannot have a situation where we refuse to reform the United Nations and only one country take us to ransom,” he told Samson Lardy Ayenini on Newsfile.

Meanwhile, he revealed he has been in touch with Ghanaian students in Ukraine to find ways to be moved to safer zones.

“As a former student leader, I keep a close relationship with student leaders across the globe, particularly the National Union of Ghana Students fraternity.

“With such a humanitarian crisis on our hands, we must first and foremost be concerned about our nationals. What is their condition? How can we whisk them out of danger?” he quizzed.