generalspeaking

Sanctioning Russian Wealth

"The world is watching with grave concern as Russia has positioned its military in a way that could lead to further incursions into southern and eastern Ukraine."
"This is not our preferred outcome. These sanctions would not only have a significant impact on the Russian economy, but could also be disruptive to the global economy."
U.S. President Barack Obama

"There may have been some in Russia who mistakenly believed that we would stop with the sanctions authority announced on Monday. Not true, as today's announcement indicates."
"For the cronies who were designated today, I suggest that some of their brethren who have accounts at Bank Rossiya and are otherwise running in those circles are now asking themselves whether they're next."
Senior Obama administration official

"This is the first proper response to the invasion of Ukraine that has come out of any government in the world. It's a surgical strike against the kleptocracy of the Putin regime."
"There is only one thing these people care about and that is their money. This hits the ones that are closest to Putin, and who are most likely to be sheltering money for him. If he thiks he can steal a country with no consequences, he is wrong."
"If all the EU does is just cancel all future Russian cultural exchanges, or whatever, then that will not be enough. They need to come up with a list just as strong for it to be effective."
Bill Browder, British-American businessman

Perhaps sanctions cannot be personally designated to hit the president of Russia for his illegal takeover of Ukrainian territory which Russia values as a heritage site of their very own shared with Ukraine for a half-century after officially ceding it to Ukraine in recognition of historical imperatives of territorial holdings, but targeting the oligarchs politically and socially close to Vladimir Putin to exact punishment with teeth that bite their wealth will certainly resound.

The West recognizes that Crimea is now in Russia's possession, and so does Ukraine; this is a situation beyond recall. But the very real threat, despite denials to the contrary, that the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin have additional ambitions to absorb east Ukraine with its long-emigrated Russian expatriates to 'protect' them from the vicious enmities of native Ukrainians seeking revenge, now weighs heavily on the minds of Western powers.

So, as a signal to President Putin that enough is more than enough, his closest associates, political allies and personal friends have been targeted in a message that further incursions will not be tolerated without exacting a penance rather dear to the economic well-being of Russia and its oligarchs, and by extension, Vladimir Putin himself. Russian private investments in the West will be frozen, the ability to travel, make deals, buy expensive mansions abroad have been truncated.

The response from the Kremlin is to slam the sanctions as "unacceptable". And a retaliatory package of nine American names, including Senator John McCain and three senior national security aides has been drawn up in Russia. "We have repeatedly warned that sanctions are a double-edged instrument and would hit the United States like a boomerang", said a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman. "I guess this means my spring break in Siberia is off, my Gazprom stock is lost and my secret bank account in Moscow is frozen", lamented Senator McCain.

Alexei Navalny, a Russian anti-corruption activist and opposition politician wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times listing nine names in an article with the title How to Punish Putin. Of those names, five were included in Thursday's White House sanctions list.

Labels: Conflict, Crimea, EU, Russia, Sanctions, Secession, Ukraine, United States

posted by Pieface @ Saturday, March 22, 2014