Putin’s judo partner Arkady Rotenberg among Russians hit by EU sanctions July 31, 2014 Among those Russians hit by the EU's latest round of sanctions are President Vladimir Putin's judo partner Arkady Rotenberg, who is already on a US sanctions list. The European Commission has published the names of eight Russians and three companies that will have their assets frozen as a consequence of Kremlin's actions in eastern Ukraine. [...]
EU sanctions Putin’s cronies as G7 nations say more may come July 30, 2014 The European Union yesterday extended sanctions against the Russian government to another group of individuals and organisations, freezing the assets of “cronies” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to one EU official. The eight individuals included Arkady Rotenberg, a friend of Putin, who has benefitted from public contracts and the gains of Moscow’s state-owned firms. The [...]
US and EU sanctions on Russia: It’s not another cold war says Obama, yet Putin won’t thaw July 29, 2014 The US and Europe have joined forces to tighten the screws on Russia’s President Putin, as the spectre of downed Malaysia airlines flight MH17 continues to tug at the consciences of western leaders. As ambassadors in Brussels yesterday finally agreed a package of new sanctions designed to bring the Russian economy to its knees, Prime [...]
Putin has exposed a chilling truth about the West: It no longer exists July 22, 2014 Somehow Europe’s leaders have managed to undershoot even my subterranean expectations. Ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting yesterday to plan a common response to the Malaysia Airlines atrocity, leaks made it all too clear that this whole process would not amount to much. But the results – even for the EU – are almost comically [...]
Are tougher sanctions the best way to tackle Putin’s Russia? July 21, 2014 Timothy Ash, head of emerging market research (ex Africa) at Standard Bank, says Yes. Sanctions have already had an effect, by preventing a broader Russian incursion into Ukraine. Russia did not expect them, and the measures made it bide time to assess their impact. Crucially, this gave the new Ukrainian government time to regroup, and [...]
Fresh sanctions expected as West blames Putin’s Russia for MH17 crash July 21, 2014 Western governments yesterday warned that a more severe round of sanctions could be imposed against the Russian government, with heads of state increasingly blaming Moscow for supplying the missile which brought down a Malaysian airlines jet last week. Foreign secretary Philip Hammond, who has held the post for less than a week, said yesterday that [...]
There will be more Putins – and more Flight MH17s – if Europe fails to act now July 21, 2014 “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” – The Wizard in L Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz In her able, forthright way, Hillary Clinton has just painfully called Europe’s bluff. Speaking just after the horrific details of the Malaysian plane disaster became clear – where it looks increasingly likely that murderously clueless [...]
Putin fears an EU fracking bonanza – but environmentalists don’t have to May 29, 2014 RUSSIA and China agreed on a $400bn, 30-year deal last week, wherein Gazprom will deliver 38bn cubic metres of natural gas a year to China. This will exacerbate the EU energy crisis, but the bloc still seems intent on ignoring the only obvious solution – fracking – and fidgets at the margins with renewables. Large [...]
CNBC Comment: Putin’s bravado masks financial stress May 26, 2014 VLADIMIR Putin’s pivot to the East can no longer be in any doubt. Attending the St Petersburg Economic Forum (the annual meeting he set up to rival Davos) last week, high profile US attendees, like Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, were notably absent. The most high-profile foreign delegates were from China, like vice premier Li [...]
China is the real victor as Putin looks East May 22, 2014 WHEN President Vladimir Putin voyaged to Beijing this week, it was with one thing in mind: strengthening Sino-Russian relations. The signing of a $400bn (£237bn) gas pipeline deal with Beijing formed the centrepiece of this effort. Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is pushing the US and Europe away, and Putin is looking to reorient towards an [...]