EU sanctions on Russia achieved no goal: Commentator

Press TV has interviewed Fred Weir, a journalist and political commentator in Moscow, to discuss the remarks made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said EU sanctions against Russia will remain in place if the implementation of the Minsk agreement is delayed.

Following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: This certainly sounds like the sanctions are here to stay for a bit more?

Weir: Well you know the Minsk II agreement did stipulate that it should be completed by the end of this year and it is pretty obvious by now that it is not going to be, so Ms Merkel was basically stating the obvious. Minsk will be delayed and so all of the conditions that surrounded it including the sanctions will continue.

It is actually good news in a way that Minsk is being delayed because unlike earlier this year, there is some movement, real movement toward implementing its basic features and it is not just the ceasefire and withdrawal, disengagement of forces that is working finally since about the beginning of September but some of the political planks that need to be laid in place are gradually happening. It is happening and very slowly it will drag on willing to next year but that is good news in a way. It means that there is light at the end of the tunnel with Minsk finally.

Press TV: So looking at this issue of sanctions as a whole, obviously Russia has said it will be pointless anyhow when the EU had brought on these sanctions. How do you reflect on the effect or lack of that these sanctions have had?

Weir: Well they certainly have not achieved the goal that the people set when they framed them here a year plus ago. The idea was that Russia would cave in, that Russia would come to the table begging to make amends and nothing of the kind has happened.  The jury is still out on how badly they have hurt the Russian economy, that they clearly have, but not nearly to any crippling extent.

And there is a counter argument one hears a lot from experts in Russia that it is actually stimulating the Russian economy in various ways. They have been forced to diversify, implement import substitution and there are sectors of the Russian economy particularly agriculture that are clearly growing at quite a rate and it is because of the sanctions. So I do not know there are some people in Russia, who say, ‘Yes, keep those sanctions on. We need them.’

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