The Obama Administration is pushing for harsh new sanctions against Russia to be unveiled at the G-7 this week, saying sanctions will target Russia’s military exports as well as other sectors of its economy.
Nominally, the new sanctions aim to “punish” Russia for not using its influence to shut down protests in eastern Ukraine seeking enhanced autonomy. The G-7 is also preparing a statement condemning the “illegal” protesters and reiterating its opposition to the Russian annexation of Crimea.
The White House says the next round of sanctions has been designed to particularly hurt companies held by allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, though previous attempts at sanctions said the same thing and didn’t amount to much at all.
The US has only limited trade ties to Russia to break, and thus Europe is expected to do most of the heavy lifting. The G-7 can’t really guarantee EU action, however, as any EU sanctions would need to be unanimous, and many nations in central and eastern Europe are averse to new sanctions, believing they would harm their economies more than the Russian economy.
There is a growing split within the administration on that score as well, with some wanting to push unilateral US sanctions beyond what the Europeans would ever go along with, and others suggesting the myth of a “unified” front needs to be sustained, even if it means slowing the sanctions war down.
Considering that coup d'état Ukraine is the work of the Obama regime and therefore the destabilization of Ukraine is a wholly owned subsidiary of Obama regime, where are the "sanctions" on the US?
This glaring hypocrisy grows tedious.
By definition, any sanction works both ways. Which means at this point the US is sanctioning itself and forcing more trade to move to a growing BRICS bloc. Which also means that any EU regime is really having to choose between trade with a fading empire, or the new growing trading bloc of the future. Easy choice for a farsighted leader, if a bit tricky in the short term as it likely means po'ing crazy people who have nuclear weapons.
Little known fact: EU and British courts have already declared the sanctions against Iran's banks illegal, and the sanctions in the EU have been lifted. If EU (and SWIFT) took action they would be paying damages to Russian banks.
It's the USA PATRIOT Act again, which allows the US government to name anyone anywhere a terrorist. They only sanctioned Iran's banks by threatening and bullying other countries, which have no choices but to pay dearly. This may not work again.
The USG and its hegemony is about the world, not even the universe would be enough after that, so for Hollywood creation of imaginary movies is as real as USG idea in being in charge of the world, with force or deception of course. USG governing system doesn’t introduce anything in form of better life for people anywhere, like millions of homeless people and growing poverty in USA, the committed wars by democrat and republican president alike, the Balkan war, Yugoslavian bombardment of innocent people, the Afghanistan, Iraq, Syrian war, Libyan war and now USG openly supporting Neo European fascism, indicating that USG is more isolated then they want to isolate Russia, so they use all and every garbage wanting to contain Russia. In reality however, such manipulative politics shows that, the talk of democracy is nothing but hot air, it shows that USG is going backward and therefore in a world of going forward, for people demanding for a functioning democracy, it is USG that is isolated, flying around the world bribing dictatorial and alike regimes with military promises and etc, is yet another sign. After the collapse of USSR, Russia never been engaged nor it is at war nor is conducting any military action against USA or Europe or anywhere for that mater. But The far right democrats from Bill Clinton to Hillary Clinton to Barack Hussein Obama to EU governing body are sworn enemy of democracy, they are sworn enemies or will become the enemies of any nation that wants to be independent, these far right politicians are sworn enemies of people’s choice and right of their choice of government, therefore they have to interfere by using their kind, the far right of any kind, even when they are Neo fascist. This is 2014, the world can be destroyed in five minutes if these far rights are reelected, these people presenting the culture of vulture capitalism as Paul Wolfowitz and others alike.
Well said. The USG is rogue and doesn't represent what most of US people want in life.
EU leaders have a choice: they can refuse to participate in sanctions and prove to their people that they do not want to help start WWIII, or they can approve sanctions and prove they are subservient lapdogs to a US government that seems increasingly to be composed of lunatics and war criminals.
And because isolated sanctions by one country have very limited impact. About as much impact as one boy putting a finger in one hole in an Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans levee.
There are much better, and much more honest, reasons to sanction the USg. But a semi-equivalent reason (and it really did p–s me off) is for failing to prevent winter.
Just think they MIGHT be responsible for a Nuclear Winter!
Have to say this headline doesn't really match the story. A few more tit-for-tat sanctions that target 'Putin supporters' who never did much business in the US and who were warned a few months ago to get any assets they did have out, is not exactly what I would call 'broad sanctions'.
How does the USG manage to keep EU countries in line at this point?
Defence industry contracts and the like for one. Plenty of carrots but also some sticks, no reason you couldn't have a color revolution in Germany or the UK, much easier in fact.
I don't think they do. It's gotten to the point where the EU countries dependent upon the relations they have with Russia to distance themselves from the neocon-ridden USG who are willfully engaged in ramping up another world war – all in the name of spite for Putin for having the gall to stop the US's attempt to do to Syria what they did to Iraq.
Remember EU that it was Obama's Regime Asst. Secretary of State Victoria Nuland who said "F*ck the EU" and also the Obama regime's NSA spying directly on the personal communications of Angela Merkel, Germany's Chancellor and not Putin. With friends like this who needs enemies. Wake the heck up idiots in EU that you are being led down a dangerous path being orchestrated by the very same backstabbers who call you allies.
Its pretty sad when one misses the relations with Russia from the Bush years. Crimea has less chance of returning to Ukraine than Tibet divorcing itself from China. Bad policf equals bad results.
"Economic sanctions kill at least as many people as violent conflict." Let's see if the Europeans will jump off that cliff behind the US.
The sanctions are just fist shaking. They express anger but have little effect. The point is to wrongfoot Putin, although he wrongfoots himself so often now, sanctions are hardly needed.
They're going to target Russia's military exports? I didn't know the Pentagon was buying MIGs.
USA manipulated Iatseniuk,(I should say motivated with money) and his followers.Now Iatseniuk is manipulating USA.Look at pictures of his meeting with Obama.The behaviour of Iatseniuk lool like he is the master in the white house.