CFR Daily News Brief: U.S. Announces New Sanctions on Russia

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U.S. Announces New Sanctions on Russia

The United States will impose new sanctions on Russia, President Barack Obama announced Monday in Manila on the final leg of his Asia tour, adding that he was holding broader measures against the Russian financial and energy sectors "in reserve" (Reuters). The announcement comes as pro-Russian separatists continue to hold seven military observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe hostage in Sloviansk, after freeing one on health concerns (WaPo). Meanwhile, Kharkiv mayor Gennady Kernes was hospitalized in critical condition after an apparent assassination attempt (Kyiv Post). The U.S. government has debated the relative merits of strong sanctions versus coordinated action with Europe, as EU states, with a greater economic stake in Russia, have been reluctant to impose the toughest sanctions (NYT). European ambassadors meeting today in Brussels are expected to approve new additions to the EU's list of sanctioned individuals.

Analysis

"Ukraine must restore legitimacy to its leadership and its facts. It is hard to see how to do this on the brink of civil war, Russian intervention or both. The O.S.C.E. has observers in Ukraine. But the Kiev government's forces and the pro-Russian separatists restrict its movements. Russia, the United States, Ukraine and Europe should give it more resources and authority to provide a neutral accounting of facts. Ultimately, though, the ability to restore legitimate authority lies in the Kiev government's hands. Kiev seems set on doing so through force of arms, but legitimacy does not grow from the barrel of a gun. It comes through fair elections," writes Keith Darden in the New York Times.

"The sanctions-by-small-degrees strategy continues the hope that Mr. Putin's Russia can somehow, with the right balance of carrots and sticks, be brought back into the European fold. In this view Mr. Putin is reacting understandably to Russia's post-Soviet decline in power and the West's NATO expansion. Ukraine and the rest of the Russian near abroad are part of the Kremlin's historic sphere of influence, so let Mr. Putin have them and after a slap on the wrist we can all return to business as usual. This is a false diagnosis wrapped in self-deception," writes the Wall Street Journal in an editorial.

"Putin may not be planning a full-scale occupation but instead trying to force the federalization of Ukraine. If that takes place, he won't have the huge expense of absorbing the region. He will not risk a major war or really crippling sanctions from the West. Still, Russia would call the shots in the east of the country. The local oligarchs, who unlike in Russia have real political power, could be brought under control—and one day in the future if it were convenient, it might be possible to break off a now growing People's Republic of Donetsk from Ukraine. If such a 'republic' emerges, the question will be how far it can extend its power," writes Tim Judah in the New York Review of Books.