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British expert: EU will hardly relax strategy on Russia

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  • British expert: EU will hardly relax strategy on Russia

    British expert: EU will hardly relax strategy on Russia

    19:59, 07.01.2015


    There are not many reasons to believe that the EU strategy on Russia
    will show signs of gradual relaxation in the immediate future, Gunter
    Walzenbach, senior lecturer at the University of the West of England,
    said.

    As long as the threat to the territorial integrity of Ukraine is real
    and present the EU sanction regime will continue both in terms of
    target selection and comprehensiveness, he said responding to an
    e-mail inquiry by Armenian News-NEWS.am.

    Asked whether the sanction regime imposed by the EU had an impact on
    Russia's foreign policy, Walzenbach said it is always difficult to
    assess the impact of sanctions on any particular target country.

    "Historically we know that sanctions sometimes work and sometimes they
    do not. From my point of view the policy makers in Brussels indeed
    have reasons to be satisfied with the relative success of their
    approach. The official EU account sees the range of restrictive
    measures that have been introduced as part of an attempt to change
    Russia's policy vis-a-vis Ukraine. However, these come with parallel
    efforts to keep communication lines open and that try to achieve a
    diplomatic solution through peaceful negotiation, " the political
    analyst said.

    Moreover, the EU has at a very early stage excluded any military
    intervention in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

    "As a consequence, there seem to be not many other instruments left on
    part of the Union to articulate its opposition to the course of action
    chosen by Vladimir Putin in recent months".

    The Russian economy is clearly feeling the impact of sanctions further
    augmented by pre-existing structural problems, the falling oil prices
    and the retaliatory imposition of trade embargos especially for
    agricultural products from European markets, he emphasized.


    Armenia News - NEWS.am

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