Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Crimea on August 13-14 caused an ambiguous reaction in the international community. The press secretary of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the region has joined the Russian Federation for a long time, but it will cost the country a lot. At the same time, Maria Scharf, a representative of the US Department of State, said that Vladimir Putin is "the only tourist in Crimea" because the region's tourist industry was damaged greatly after Crimea became part of Russia. However Putin himself said that "Crimea may be a unique region, which will give Russian society a chance to overcome the results of the Civil War, to forget the struggle between Red and White, which was one of the most tragic pages in the history the 20th century."
The head of the Strategic Planning and Prognosis Centre, Alexander Gusev, believes the statement made by the president at the meeting he hosted in the region was addressed mainly to the international community. "Of course this meeting was addressed mainly to foreign powers. The fact that the president hosted a meeting attended by lawmakers, members of the cabinet and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is very remarkable. The meeting was intended to demonstrate to Russian society that Crimea is indeed a part of Russia and we have to pay special attention to the region," Gusev said.
According to Gusev, there are rumours that Putin has already persuaded Europe to give up South-Eastern Ukraine. However, the expert does not believe in such things. President Putin's speech was some kind of a message to the world, he notes. He also said that the international community has already made its peace with the fact that Crimea has joined the Russian Federation. "The recent statement by Maria Scharf, a representative of the US Department of State, in which she said that Vladimir Putin is the only tourist in Crimea, was quite remarkable. It showed that the issue is settled," he said. At the same time the issue of South-Eastern Ukraine was barely touched upon by the Russian president, the expert notes.
Commenting on western sanctions against Russia, Gusev noted that they are less painful than may seem. "The sanctions may be overcome. We are able to react to the third round of US sanctions. Of course there may be the fourth one and the fifth one. certainly it will take some time, but are ready for it. I guess Europeans should think it through once again. They have already suffered from their own policies. In fact all of them - politicians, businessmen and experts - agree that the sanctions were counterproductive. This situation has created many problems. Still, I don't think the sanctions will last for long. Several politicians from Switzerland and Finland have said so. The Finnish Prime Minister has even said that his country is not going to impose sanctions on Russia," Gusev said.
