Against What Will the New Anti-Russian Sanctions Be Directed?

• 03.02.2018, 14:59
•  Europe,  America,  World

theeventchronicle.com

On February 27, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that new sanctions would be imposed on Russia within thirty days.

Currently, there are a number of sanctions against Russia because of Crimea and the situation in Donbass, as well as Russia's alleged intervention in the US presidential elections.

Still on January 29, the US Treasury Department released the Kremlin List, which included about 200 Russian officials and businessmen. It does not just impose sanctions, but indicates that such sanctions may be applied in the future.

If we take into account these sanctions as well as the upcoming presidential elections in Russia, the sanctions that are likely to be carried out are not economic, but rather political.

The goal of the new sanctions, according to Russian politicians and analysts, is to hinder the Russian-led integration processes in the post-Soviet area. Economic sanctions also have an impact on Russia's economic partners, which may cause additional tension. Besides, it is evident that pressure on Russia is exacerbated on the eve of the presidential elections in the country. The Kremlin believes that the United States wants to influence on the course and outcome of the elections in Russia.

It is also not ruled out that new anti-Russian sanctions are needed to mitigate internal political tensions between the legislative and executive branches of government. In the past year, the US Congress almost unanimously adopted a new law on Russia imposing new sanctions against Russia because of Crimea and Donbass, as well as Russia's alleged intervention in the US presidential election. The law has already come into force, but it seems that Trump did not hurry to take practical steps to impose new sanctions, as the Congress blamed the president for implementing a mild policy against Russia.

It is noteworthy that the United States has also "pledged" sanctions to Turkey, with which relations have recently been strained. US sanctions against NATO ally are conditioned by Russian-Turkish rapprochement and they will be determined in case of acquisition of anti-missile S-400 from Russia.

It is clear from the Russian statements that they have already faced the Western sanctions and are ready to accept new ones, and the US State Department Special Representative on Ukraine noted that sanctions against Russia will only get milder if Moscow promotes peace in Donbass. That will also contribute to the normalization of relations between Russia and the West.

On the other hand, the Commission on Permanent Representatives of the EU Member States agreed to extend the individual sanctions against Russian citizens and legal entities. Formally the process should have been completed on Monday, but the EU Council postponed the decision on some procedural issues, yet there was no clear date for the process to be completed.

In light of this uncertainty, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine has expressed dissatisfaction with the claim that sanctions should be set for at least one year.

In Russia, this has been interpreted by the controversy over the geopolitical issues between Brussels and Washington. The point is that the sides have taken a different stand on the future policy towards Iran's nuclear program. Meanwhile the United States wants to achieve new international sanctions against Iran, the EU seems to support the full implementation of the Iranian nuclear deal. According to the Russian side, this disagreement on sanctions also extends on Russia.