Possible economic sanctions against Russia would deal a heavy blow to that already economically weakened country, but even the European Union would not be able to avoid negative consequences, the Slovenian daily Delo writes today.
Economic sanctions would represent an excellent test of the internal cohesion of the Union, since they would affect individual members differently, Delo states, as reported by the STA agency.
Some European countries are worried about the exposure of their banks to Russia, others about the supply of energy, and still others would like to keep their investments in Russia, the Slovenian daily said in an article entitled "Door to the Ice Age".
Because of all this, Brussels has chosen more or less symbolic measures against Russian officials, making sure that the "penalties" do not get too close to the center of power in the Kremlin or the Russian oligarchs.
Russia, on the other hand, does not seem worried about the possibility of international isolation, although even China did not support it in the United Nations Security Council. It is expected, however, that sooner or later both Moscow and the West will realize that the escalation of the problem does not benefit anyone and that Russian President Vladimir Purin, as a reasonable player, will start to negotiate.
The fact that Russia accepted the deployment of monitoring teams of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine is considered the first sign that Moscow is ready to make concessions. If, however, there is no calming of tensions, the tightening of sanctions would open the door to a new ice age, the Slovenian paper concludes.
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