It is clear by Ukraine's events menaces and deeds, who is playing with a carrot and who would play with a stick.
"As U.S. and European officials began imposing sanctions in their face-off with Russia over Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s $160 billion in oil and natural gas exports may be his most potent weapon to limit punitive measures.
The U.S. and its European allies have few levers to deter Putin even as they warn Russia not to annex Crimea after a referendum in Ukraine’s southern region yesterday. The European Union today imposed travel-visa bans and assets freezes on 21 individuals and President Barack Obama issued an executive order naming seven Russians for sanctions.
Russia, the world’s largest oil producer, exported $160 billion worth of crude, fuels and gas-based industrial feedstocks to Europe and the U.S. in 2012. While shutting the spigot on Russian energy exports would starve the Moscow government of essential flows of foreign cash, the price may be too high for European consumers and it may not alter Putin’s plans, said Jeff Sahadeo, director of Carleton University’s Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies".
Source: Bloomberg
