MOSCOW BLOG: Why western sanctions will fail

Ben Aris in Moscow | http://www.bne.eu/content/moscow-blog-why-western-sanctions-will-fail

May 6, 2014

With the violence in eastern Ukraine escalating by the day, the West's policy of imposing sanctions on Russia is bound to fail. All this policy has done is to paint both the Kremlin and Washington into their respective corners, making the chances of military confrontation look increasingly likely.
As the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned in interviews published in four European newspapers on May 6, "The bloody pictures from Odessa have shown us that we are just a few steps away from a military confrontation."
Thus the time for both Washington and Moscow to cut their losses and agree to meet to thrash out a compromise is now. Each day that passes will see the body count rise and drive the proxies that are actually doing the fighting at the behest of the two Great Game players become more and more invested in the violent cycle of anger and revenge, so that if the overlords try to pull the plug they might find it is too late. Indeed, this point may already have passed with the death of over 40 pro-Russian activists in Odessa.