Thank you very much for this important question.
Sanctions imposed are a start; however, there are not enough effective sanctions to, first, cut Russia's ability to continue this war and, second, force Russia—in particular, its top officials—to pay a high price for its continuing aggression. This is not happening.
If we look in detail of the sanctions imposed, we will see their half-heartedness. The Russian central bank says, as a result of sanctions, the Russian economy will shrink by up to 8%, which is nothing compared to the atrocities and destruction Russia has been carrying out in Ukraine.
Only a few Russian banks have been cut off from the SWIFT system. It's only a few, not all. These imposed limitations didn't affect Sberbank, Russia's largest bank. A result is that Russia is great at stabilizing the ruble, especially given that gas and oil prices have risen and western democracies have not yet imposed a full embargo on the energy trade with Russia.
Another important aspect is that Russia continues to receive large amounts of cash through energy exports. Bloomberg economic experts expect Russia to receive nearly $321 billion from energy exports this year. This is an increase of more than a third from last year. That would be sufficient for Russia to temporarily withstand the negative consequences of the recently introduced sanctions before the impacts of longer-term sanctions become visible. A new energy embargo on Russian oil, natural gas, petroleum products and LNG is badly needed.
I think the problem is not that western democracies don't know what has to be done in order to stop the ability of the Russian economy to feel this war. The problem is whether western democracies will leave their comfort zone and take the necessary steps.