MOSCOW, September 12 (RIA Novosti), Anastasia Levchenko - As the European Union has imposed a new round of sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, first analyses on the future repercussions appear in the Western media with some praising Europe's US-backed decision and others cautioning against the negative effects of sanctions to western economies, and underlining Russia's re-orientation to the East and Ukraine's to the West.
CONCERTED WESTERN EFFORT
The Guardian reported on Friday that "the latest sanctions are designed to keep up pressure on Russia, which denies sending troops into eastern Ukraine and arming the separatists. Moreover, the US is understood to be planning to limit access to Russian banks, including Sberbank, later on Friday as part of a concerted western effort to penalize what it sees as Russian attempts to destabilize Ukraine by backing pro-Russia separatists with troops and weapons."
The joint European position fully corresponds to American line of reasoning. ABC News cites Martin Schulz, European Parliament President, as saying at a conference in Kiev on Friday that the new round of sanctions was a sign to Moscow that there will be "no return to business as usual." In response to that, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko thanked EU countries for "their solidarity with Ukraine".
President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy stated that The Permanent Representatives Committee or Coreper will assess the implementation of the peace plan in Ukraine by the end of the month. Sanctions could be amended, suspended or repealed in whole or in part depending on the conclusions of this assessment, according to the Prague Post.
"The new EU sanctions introduced today certainly take things to a tougher level," CNN quotes Sunny Mann, a partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie, as saying. "At the same time, there is a signal that the EU is prepared to roll things back if the current crisis is de-escalated."
The New York Times reports Poroshenko as saying it would be "impolite" for the European Union not to take the next step, known as "accession partnership" and designed to steer toward membership. Ukraine is expected to ratify an association agreement with the European Union next Tuesday.
STEP TO THE WEST, STEP TO THE EAST
ABC News underlines how Ukraine welcomes the new sanctions and even expresses gratitude and thus cites Poroshenko thanking EU countries for "their solidarity with Ukraine".
AFP emphasizes that "Ukraine looks West" and makes steps to "cement" Kiev's ties with the European Union and Washington.
Russia, in turn, leans more and more toward Asia, notes Reuters, unlike other agencies that focus mainly on the Ukrainian perspective. Reuters refers to Russian President Vladimir Putin's call for new efforts to strengthen cooperation with China and ex-Soviet republics in Central Asia on Friday.
"I believe it is necessary to further improve the efficiency of our interaction to meet the challenges of the time," Putin said during a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security bloc, at a meeting in Tajikistan.
Al Jazeera, in contrast to the majority of Western agencies, also considers the flip-side of the EU and American policy, issuing an opinion stating that "Western leaders need to use more constructive language for cooperation with Russia", as sanctions do not work.
Echoing Al Jazeera, The New York Times underlines that Western policies toward the Ukrainian crisis can hardly be viewed as consistent. "Despite strong vocal support from Europe and the United States, and the high profile of the crisis at a NATO summit meeting in Wales last week, Ukraine has not received much tangible economic nor military aid," The News York Times reports.
TIT-FOR-TAT
As for the economic effects of the newly imposed sanctions, major western media outlets inform that the Russian ruble to dollar conversion rate has dropped. The ruble slumped to 37.72 against the dollar just before 6:30 a.m. GMT, thus reaching a new low after hitting 37.57 on Thursday.
Reuters speaks of inevitable banking losses: "Now Russia's banks - even major players owned by the state - are hurting from Western sanctions and a weak economy to an extent that the glory days seem a long way off. Shut out from international markets, with few new deposits while bad loans multiply and funding costs spike, their new environment is a shock for lenders after years of solid business from a population hungry for property and consumer goods and companies on an acquisitions spree."
Bloomberg, however, emphasizes that economic restrictions can never hit one side only. "Nobody stands to win in this tit-for-tat battle," the agency reports.
"Europe is also vulnerable. Declines in raw materials prices are only going to compound the deflationary effect of the Russian food embargo. Europe faces a glut of fruit, vegetables, dairy products and fish, which is weighing on prices at a time when the European Central Bank is taking extraordinary measures to boost inflation closer to its target of 2 percent," Bloomberg reports.
Bloomberg also calls the current stand-off the "worst crisis between Russia and its former Cold War adversaries since the fall of the Berlin Wall".
WHAT STANDS BEHIND
A new wave of sanctions was adopted by the 28-member European Union on Thursday and came into force early Friday. The Russian Foreign Ministry and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov have condemned the restrictions, accusing Brussels of unwillingness to recognize Russia's peacemaking efforts in Ukraine and labeling the new restrictions as "illegitimate". Russia is reportedly considering retaliating by capping imports of Western cars and clothing.
New EU sanctions curb access to western financial markets for some of Russia's largest firms and target banks, arms manufacturers, the country's leading oil company, Rosneft, as well as the crude subsidiary of its state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
Sanctions published in the EU's Official Journal included asset freezes and travel bans on Igor Lebedev, deputy speaker of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament), Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, and a number of leaders of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Also sanctioned is Sergei Chemezov, described as a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin from the days of his service in East Germany. Chemezov is a chairman of Rostech, a leading defense and industrial group that includes arms supplier Rosoboronexport - the company that is planning to build energy plants in Crimea.
For the full list of people and companies sanctioned by the EU please follow the link.
