The EU plans to adopt a new project of anti-Russian sanctions in the near future. President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy said that the sanctions will depend on the situation. German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated this morning that the territorial integrity of Ukraine was violated. The U.S. urged Europe to speed up the process regardless of the success of the peace plan. The U.S. position on the sanctions was expressed by President Barack Obama on Friday.
European Chief Diplomat Maja Kocijanic said that ambassadors will meet on September 10 to discuss sanctions and evaluate the situation in Ukraine.
Russia in Global Affairs Editor-in-Chief Fedor Lukyanov said that a peace plan was being realized in Ukraine but it was very fragile. The new sanctions have not been passed because the fate of the plan remains uncertain. The senator believes that Europe does not want to provoke a sudden response from Russia.
Igor Morozov, a member of the Federation Council Committee for International Relations, emphasized that the cause of the sanctions was the dependence of the EU on the U.S. He reminded that Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan was the basis of the ceasefire in the east of Ukraine.
In his words, new sanctions against Gazprom, Rosneft and Transneft were demonstrative in that aspect. He believes that negotiations between Novorossiya and Ukraine under OSCE mediation would not help because the U.S. wanted to stab the Russian petroleum and military industry sectors. The senator predicts that the Americans will soon impose sanctions on fishing and the lumber industry.
Morozov proposed expanding response sanctions. He concluded that Russia should prepare for activation of the NATO strategy of encircling Russia and the formation of rapid reaction forces in Eastern Europe.
