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In its in-depth look at the sanctions and their impact, The Guardian calls the US sanction list as ‘who's who of Vladimir Putin's inner circle’ and says that Washington has raised “the stakes exponentially”
It also quotes Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia, as saying: "This is not just an episodic glitch in US-Russian relations, this is a profound turning point. I don't see any support for what Russia is doing now and it is going to be this way for a long time."
As more Russia’s countermeasures, many on the list have shrugged them off, including senator Dan Coats who tweeted: "I am disappointed that I won't be able to go on vacation with my family in Siberia this summer."
ABC News focused on the economic effect of the US action, saying S&P downgraded Russia’s long-term credit rating amid a “heightened geopolitical risk and the prospect of U.S. and E.U. economic sanctions.” “It more expensive for Russia to borrow money and do business”, placing “an extra burden on Russia’s struggling economy”, it added.
In its video report, those on the US Treasury blacklist have been dubbed as ‘cronies’. However, the reporter indicated that “virtually nobody believes” sanction would make the Kremlin budge.
The Wall Street Journal found one quote to prove the effective nature of the US move. “The sanctions have contributed to an ‘overall negative perception’ of Russia's economy and may increase the country's borrowing costs,” it cited Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov as saying.
The Business Insider was more skeptical, giving the voice to Ian Bremmer, geopolitical expert and president of the Eurasia Group, who ‘doesn't believe sanctions against Russia will make much of a difference at all’.
Indeed, writes Leonid Bershidsky from The Morning Call, the announcement of US sanctions was more of a ‘declaration of personal hostility by President Barack Obama’ and an attempt to ‘inflict personal pain on the Russian President’. However, Washington’s move could draw a response ‘in a game of tit-for-tat that may quickly evolve into a death spiral,’ he goes on to add.
More interesting reading could be found in The Washington Post that studies the lesson the Russian military taught everyone about “the speedy deployment of special operations forces to achieve a limited objective.” According to the piece, the Russian army “is not the one that proved so feeble in Afghanistan. It is well-trained and stealthy and effectively uses a ‘small footprint’.”
Sources: http://www.washingtonpost.com http://abcnews.go.com http://online.wsj.com http://www.theguardian.com http://www.mcall.com http://www.businessinsider.com
Author: Mikhail Vesely
