EU unlikely to slap new sanctions on Russia — report

EU countries have no intention to introduce new economic sanctions against Russia at a summit which will start Thursday, Chairman of the EU representation in Ukraine Jan Tombinski said in an interview to Ukrainian channel Espreso TV.
“EU leaders will hold a meeting where they will discuss sanctions against Russia on Thursday and on Friday. Everyone hopes that there will be no need in that, that there will be no threat that would require the third stage of punishment,” he said.
“Nobody wants that really. The goal of sanctions is not to introduce them, the goal is to make the very threat of them an impulse to correct policies.”
Even the limited sanctions already imposed by Washington and the EU have chilled investor sentiment in Russia at a time when its economy is already on the brink of recession.

Sanctions employed by the US and Europe have so far targeted officials, individuals and companies tied to President Vladimir Putin or accused of destabilizing Ukraine. The next step would be action against Russian industries, including banking and energy.
The US presidential administration is discussing new sanctions against Russia, including measures targeted against Russian financial, defense and high-tech industries, accusing Moscow of financing and secretly sending militants to participate in the conflict in Ukraine’s east.
Business groups lobbyists are asking the US authorities not to punish Moscow because that would harm the American business. If sanctions are imposed only by the US, the damage to the US industry will be even larger, Linda Dempsey, vice president of international economic affairs with the National Association of Manufacturers, said, as cited by the USA Today magazine.