The EU sanctions against Russia would cripple the European economy instead, Euro MP Pino Arlacchi. “The position of the European Union should be different from the US position. Europe should not insist on the extension of sanctions. These sanctions are unwise. In fact, they are directed against us,” he said.
Arlacchi believes that the European Union would not be pushing the sanctions further. “Europe has every reason to cooperate with the Russian Federation, there is no obstacle for this,” he said, adding that the US has a completely different position.
“The US wants to become a global government, and any country that does not agree with this, becomes their enemy. The relations between Russia and the US are likely to stay tensed,” the Euro MP said.
The Ukrainian crisis was provoked by the EU interference with the internal affairs of the country, Euro MP Pino Arlacchi said.
“The EU supported the rebellion in Ukraine, without taking into account that Ukraine is a complicated country,” he said. Most of Ukraine is pro-Russian and even speaks Russian language, Arlacchi noted.
“We have supported a mild revolution… But we did not take into account the presence of the fascist elements in the new government. Five ministers have ties with the neo-Nazi ideology in their biographies. Bashfully we avert our eyes from seeing what is happening,” the politician confessed.
The US President Barak Obama has decided to visit Amsterdam, Haag, Brussels, Vatican, Rome and the Saudi Arabia. During his visits, Obama is to discuss Ukrainian issue with the countries’ officials. The US has to fulfill its plan, aimed at separation of Ukraine from Russia. After the Crimea decided to integrate with Russia, the plan took a different option from what the US had primarily expected. Some experts think that Obama will “accidentally” come to Kiev in order to support the legitimacy of the current Ukrainian government.
Current speech of the White House and the Department of State assume that there would be a lot of anti-Russian rhetoric during Obama’s visits. On March 26, Obama is to deliver a geopolitical speech, which is likely to be anti-Russian, in Brussels. Brussels will hold the EU-US conference and meeting with the Secretary General of NATO. Obama is to participate in the nuclear safety conference in Haag and urgent summit of G7. He is likely to lobby trade sanctions against Russia.
The results of the meeting with the Secretary General of NATO are evident. The meeting with the EU countries is a complicated issue. President Obama will try to persuade the EU to impose sanctions against Russia, but he can hardly do this. European nations don’t want to be an instrument in the hands of the US, paying for this with sanctions against Russia.
It’s hard to imagine that Europe will begin an economic fight against Russia, Natalia Kalinina, the Institute of World Economy and International Relations analyst, says.
“Today’s world economy is interrelated, so any wrong decision can destroy the system. That’s why talks about sanctions won’t end with any actions. In fact, the US is trying to put pressure upon the EU, but the latter will keep its economic relations with Russia.
There would be no Obama’s visits, if the US hadn’t failed to fulfill its “Ukrainian scenario”, European media says. There have been no EU-US conferences under the rule of President Obama. European countries became enraged after they found out that the US National Security Agency had used wiretapping against the EU officials. Obama refused to sign an agreement that would guarantee the disuse of such tools. If there was no conflict in Ukraine, Obama would face a numerous accusations from the part of the EU. The White House hopes that Ukrainian crisis, provoked with the help of the US, will help to overshadow Europeans’ discontent.
“If the Ukrainian crisis hadn’t occurred, President Obama would have held another type of conference with the EU,” Heather Conley, Head of European projects at the Washington Center for strategic and internationals studies, says. Ukrainian issue discussions are to “smooth things over in the EU-US relations, but they won’t help to abandon the problems”.
Nowadays, European media prefers to stick to anti-Russian rhetoric. However, the public opinion is changing. Today, the Independent published an article of Sir Tony Brenton, former British ambassador in Russia. He can hardly be called a “supporter of Russia”. Ex-ambassador proposes to recognize the Crimea’s integration with Russia.
In this article Brenton enumerates all real as well as pretended reasons of Russian complaints against the West – NATO extension to the East, support of Chechen separatists, Russophobe former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and semi-fascist government in Kiev. He proposes not to threaten Russia with sanctions and isolation, but to resume a dialogue.
Russia is ready for such a dialogue, Vilen Ivanov, councilor of Russian Academy of Sciences, says. The fact that Russia doesn’t response on the US bank sanctions is the proof of this intention.
“The fact that Russia doesn’t impose reciprocal sanctions means that Russian government acts wisely as this step couldn’t ameliorate the international relations. It might also show that Russia regards sanctions seriously.”
Without considering Russian interests and concerns, there would be no Ukrainian crisis settlement, Vilen Ivanov says. The US is better to listen to Brenton’s opinion, because the US rarely listens to such statements from the country’s most devoted partner in Europe.
“Though the West has managed to unite in imposing minor sanctions, it can hardly do the same with major sanctions, which would hit our own economies. Ukraine, even without the Crimea, is so closely connected to Russia that it would never gain prosperity without Moscow”.
“While not imposing reciprocal sanctions against the EU and the US, Russia shows its readiness to begin a dialogue. European ministers, especially Britain’s PM, should come to meet Russia. Western officials should take into account real concerns of Russia about the fact that the West is about to swallow Ukraine.”
Reprinted from The Voice of Russia.
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