Former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland has criticized the heavy reliance on sanctions as a foreign policy tool, warning that they often fail to deliver lasting solutions.

Speaking in the context of President Donald Trump’s ongoing diplomatic efforts, Sondland argued that sanctions, while powerful, must be paired with broader strategies aimed at genuine peace and stability.

“This is the problem with sanctions,” he said, noting that punitive measures alone can harden adversaries rather than bring them to the negotiating table.

Sondland praised Trump’s approach of leveraging both economic pressure and active diplomacy to address global conflicts, suggesting it offered a more pragmatic path toward peace.

His remarks come amid renewed debates in Washington and Europe about the effectiveness of sanctions against adversarial states such as Russia, Iran, and North Korea.