One of the
major problems in the world in 2014 is undoubtedly the Ukrainian crisis and the current civil war in the country. The issue has become the battleground for EU, Russia and
US in many ways,
one of which is definitely the imposition of economic and restrictive
sanctions. Those are, in fact,
an alternative approach to military
confrontation to win a clash,
because the state
who is hit, it is forced to find alternative solutions
to the health of its economy.Following the annexation of the Crimea in March 2014, the European Union and the United States decided to impose the travel bans to many leading figures of Russia, both political and economic. It was only the first step in a long series of measures to force Russia to withdraw from Ukraine’s affairs: in late April there was a second round of sanction that hit a growing number of officers, banks and Russian companies. The EU pointed out that the sanctions are not punitive but designed to bring a change in policy in the target country. During the summer, many countries (Australia, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Norway) joined the group, enlarging the front which was in contrast with Moscow.
These initiatives were clearly aimed to stop Russia from interfering with Ukrainian situation, forcing to abandon the separatist movement and withdraw its troops: Putin's government responded with great vehemence, adopting some counter-sanctions. It has been particularly important the ban about the importation of agricultural products and food, a very important market for the EU, whose exports of food in Russia are estimated to be 10% of total.[1]
While the situation in Ukraine worsened, reaching the civil war, the measures increased with a third round of sanctions, from July to September: the EU and the US, followed for the first time by Kiev’s government, decided to strike the heart of Russian economy, applying restrictions in the financial sector, weapons production and, especially, energy. This phase was particularly delicate because it represented an escalation that touched the most powerful sectors of Russia, the ones that Moscow normally uses as counter-move to create problems to Europe. In these days, the American government is discussing the possibility of new sanctions, more severe than the previous.
So far, the “war of sanctions” is a fight that has no winners, but there are already significant economic repercussions both on Russia and on Europe. The former are more and more isolated from the rest of the world and they have to face the costs of sanctions and war, the latter are forced to find new energy supplies, new markets for the export of certain goods and, not least, they have to stay united in a historical moment of economic and political crisis that requires strong decisions.
Useful links:
[1] Data
from Europa.eu
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