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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
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