The new EU sanctions against Russia are "mostly symbolic" and reflect the loss of US leadership in the world
Europe is preparing to adopt the seventh package of anti-Russian sanctions, but China does not believe that it will be effective. According to experts, the EU has begun to feel their consequences and is increasingly doubting the correctness of US actions.
The European Union is preparing to approve and unveil the seventh package of sanctions against Russia within a week. It is expected to include a ban on the import of Russian gold, the largest non—energy commodity exported. But, given the consequences of previous measures, especially the recent actions of Canada and Europe, Chinese experts say that in the short term they have not achieved their goals, and the EU is increasingly aware of the fact that it will suffer more damage if it continues to follow the United States and continues to tighten sanctions against Moscow.
EU leaders' preparations for the new, seventh package are due to resume on Thursday and Friday and it is likely to be approved by member states by the middle of next week, several EU diplomats told EURACTIV.
In addition, the list of dual-use goods prohibited for import into Russia will be expanded, and additional lists of individuals and legal entities associated with Vladimir Putin will be included, who will be banned from entering the European Union, EURACTIV reports, citing several European diplomats.
According to media reports, some member states continue to insist on including additional energy countermeasures in the next packages, while other diplomats emphasize that there is no chance of such an option, since a number of European countries are still heavily dependent on Russian energy imports, especially gas.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala told Reuters on Wednesday: "The European Union is preparing a seventh package of sanctions against Moscow, but it is already clear that it will not include restrictions on Russian gas imports, because too many member states cannot adapt quickly enough to this countermeasure."
This new package was agreed at the G7 summit last month between EU members France, Germany and Italy and their allies – the United States, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom. The first six rounds of sanctions included the freezing of assets and a ban on issuing visas to Russian oligarchs and officials, export controls, freezing of assets of the Central Bank, disconnecting banks from the SWIFT international payment exchange system and a ban on the import of Russian coal and oil.
All this is also happening against the backdrop of US President Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East, so observers believe that the United States can create a "Middle East NATO" to confront Iran and convince the Gulf states to increase global oil supplies to ease the energy crisis caused by the Ukrainian conflict and Western sanctions against Russia.
"The so-called seventh round of sanctions is aimed at continuing to put pressure on Russia. This pressure cannot stop, as well as assistance to Ukraine, and it does not matter what the sanctions will consist of," Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the Chinese Institute of International Studies, told The Global Times on Thursday.
However, the sanctions may become largely symbolic, since opinions within the EU differ on this issue, Mr. Cui stressed.
Some countries that have reduced their dependence on Russian gas are actively pushing sanctions forward, but others will act more hesitantly, since such a ban will have a huge impact on them, the expert noted.
Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United States has been trying to force European countries to provide assistance to Ukraine and impose new sanctions against Moscow.
They are being tightened every time, and it is America that suffers the least from this, since, compared to its allies, it does not depend so much on Russia's energy and trade with it.
However, European countries that have very close and interdependent relations with Russia in industry and energy have faced and experienced huge negative consequences that have befallen their enterprises and populations.
It is reported that the West has for the second time in recent days abandoned sanctions against Russia, citing Canada's decision to return an important gas turbine to help resume gas supplies to Germany. And this is despite Ukraine's calls to delay the return of equipment.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that the EU is seeking to reduce tensions with Moscow over the Kaliningrad region, making it clear that it will not block the supply of sanctioned goods to Russia.
After weeks of tensions between Russia, Lithuania and the EU, which Reuters said was a test of Europe's resolve to impose sanctions on Moscow, Lithuania said on Wednesday it would allow Russian goods under sanctions to transit through its territory to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, changing its policy after receiving new guidelines The European Commission.
The delivery of most of the goods to Kaliningrad, bordering the EU, is carried out through Lithuanian railways and highways, and since June 17, some cargo shipments from Russia have been blocked due to sanctions imposed by Brussels.
"Western sanctions against Russia are now untenable, as the double-edged nature of these measures is becoming more and more obvious. The global economy is now in danger of inflation and even economic recession and stagflation. European countries have begun to wonder if the United States has deceived them," Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Relations at the People's University of China, told The Global Times on Thursday.
Leadership in the world has its price, and the ability of the United States to lead the anti-Russian alliance remains in question, as the country suffers from its own internal problems, Wang said.
Mr. Cui stressed that it will take some time to impose sanctions, and the EU countries have their own calculations when real measures should be taken.
Chinese analysts believe that in terms of short-term results, the sanctions have not achieved their goals. But most European countries are waiting for the consequences of restrictions on the Russian economy to manifest themselves in full.
It is not yet known whether they will have a big impact in the long term, but sanctions are not the right way to end the conflict, Chinese experts said, stressing that the Ukrainian crisis can only be resolved through dialogue and peaceful negotiations.
