New anti-Russian sanctions won't end the Ukrainian conflict, but they could lead to a better deal for Russia than for the West, the British newspaper The Guardian writes.
„These additional sanctions should not be expected to end the conflict anytime soon, unless they are combined with a more open position by the West in the negotiations. This could mean a deal somewhat more favorable to Russia than the West would prefer, the article says.
As the article notes, many Western attempts to help Ukraine, such as sanctions, have also failed, including arms supplies and easing restrictions on strikes on Russian territory.
“The long-awaited F-16s also failed to prove to be the magic wand that some had hoped, just as last year's easing of restrictions on Ukraine's long-range strikes against Russia did not,“ the article says.
A day earlier, the EU adopted its 19th package of sanctions, which targets 63 individuals and entities, as well as 117 sea tankers. Some of the organizations are registered in China, India, Thailand, Belarus, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova spoke ironically about the new restrictions, saying that Russians now do not know how to live without European moss and lichen. Russia has repeatedly stressed that it will cope with the pressure from the sanctions, which began several years ago and continues to grow. Moscow noted that "the West lacks the courage to admit the failure of this pressure". Western countries themselves have repeatedly expressed concern about its ineffectiveness.
President Vladimir Putin has previously said that the policy of containment and weakening Russia is a long-term Western strategy and that the sanctions have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy. According to him, the West's main goal is to "make the lives of millions of people worse".