Before replying, please answer these questions:
Why did Amazon suspend AWS for new Russian customers? Or Slack? Why did Spotify and Netflix stop their business in Russia? Or Heineken, McDonald’s, or Shell, who would not have issues with supply chain or payments? All of these companies are losing millions, or even billions of dollars because of their decisions. Answer these questions before replying, or do not reply at all.
Coming back to the topic:
- Nobody said that Let's Encrypt should do it because of sanctions. Nobody even said "sanctions."
- We do not request to terminate valid certificates. Just stopping issuing new certificates is already a good move (you will give quite a lot of time to react to the action).
- It is all about whether Let's Encrypt support what Russia does. If you support - do what you do (doing nothing). If you do not support it - do something.
Fun fact: Let's Encrypt spent more time for discussions than it would take to write a press release and stop issuing certificates for at least the Russian government.
That shows you have no idea what is going on. It is not an easy task anymore in Russia.
Again: The goal of this is not "to punish" someone. The goal is to show Russians the world's position on their actions. Many website owners will have to hire someone to deal with certificate replacement. And many Russians will ask themselves again - "Why did it happen? What did Russia do wrong?". And, of course, the government will have to spend extra money to buy commercial certificates. Thus, they won't pay this money for war or propaganda. Just think about millions of refugees, thousands of victims, and hundreds of killed kids. Think and decide - do you support them or not. Please, write a press release about it, let people know.
However, it is already clear what position Let's Encrypt takes. And I am sorry if you do not understand it - either you don't want to understand or are simply undereducated.
It sounds like a great story to share with the top European tech communities and let people judge. Will it affect donates? I don't know, but frankly speaking - I hope so. Because you are volunteers doing so important mission in this world, and volunteers do not need to get paid.
Disclaimer: I am not Ukrainian, but I have Ukrainian roots. I live in the EU, and I help Ukrainians a lot. I gave my house to refugees and moved my family to a hotel. My business suspended all activities in Russia despite significant financial losses - all employees agreed that we didn't want to have blood on our hands by doing business with Russian companies. We did not need sanctions to do this. That's our position, that's the normal world position, and that's my position too.