New US Anti-Russia Sanctions 'Won't Contribute to Stability and Peace in Europe'

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United States' newest batch of sanctions on Russia will have a larger negative impact on German businesses than previous rounds of restrictions, Matthias Schepp, the chairman of the Board of the Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade (AHK Russland) said Monday.

"Further sanctions will not contribute to stability and peace in Europe and the world, but will rather exacerbate the situation," Schepp said in a statement published on the chamber's official website.

Schepp emphasized that the economy is "the most reliable bridge" during political crises.

"If the new sanctions are implemented as adopted by the US Senate, this will have far more serious consequences than the previous sanctions," Schepp said.

The AHK statement notes that despite the sanctions, investments made by German companies in Russia have remained high and even began to grow in recent months. Phoenix Contact, a electronics component manufacturer, launched a plant in May. On June 20, Daimler will begin the construction of its new Mercedes-Benz factory in the Moscow region and plans to invest over 250 million euros in the production site.

On Wednesday, the US Senate voted in favor of new sanctions against Russia over its alleged interference in the US presidential election in 2016, an allegation which Moscow strongly denies. The new sanctions include additional punitive measures against Russia’s defense, intelligence, mining, shipping and railway industries and restrict dealings with the country's banks and energy companies.

Germany and Austria have already criticized the United States, noting that the draft bill appeared to aim at ousting Russian gas from the European market, promoting US liquefied natural gas and securing US jobs in the gas and oil industries.