The US and the European Union retaliated over the Crimea referendum by targeting sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian officials on Monday, a move widely greeted with scepticism as "toothless".
The White House imposed sanctions against 11 named individuals: seven senior Russian politicians and officials and four Crimea-based separatist leaders accused of undermining the "democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine".
But the US pointedly avoided targeting the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, or key figures in his inner circle.
The EU imposed sanctions on 21 individuals but did not immediately disclose the names. There are divisions within Europe over how to respond to Russia, and this is reflected in the fact that action is being taken against less than two dozen from an original proposed list of 120.
The sanctions came on the eve of an address to the Russian parliament by President Vladimir Putin on the next moves for Crimea.On Monday night, Putin posted a decree recognising Crimea as a sovereign state on the Kremlin's website in what appeared to be a first step toward integrating Crimea as a part of the Russian Federation.
The White House insisted the sanctions were "by far and away the most comprehensive sanctions since the end of the cold war", and rejected criticism that they were too limited in scope or would be easily circumvented by asset transfers.
"We think they will be effective," one senior administration official told reporters in Washington. But the kind of sanctions that might bite, such as hitting Russian oligarchs or even their companies, particularly energy firms, were pointedly absent.
The sanctions came on the eve of an address to the Russian parliament by Putin on the next moves for Crimea. He could take steps to formalise the incorporation of Crimea into Russia.
Moscow treated the sanctions with derision. The Russian deputy prime minister, Dmitry Rogozin, who faces sanctions on the US list, was dismissive, tweeting that the move drawn up by Obama must have been the work of a "prankster".
The Russian market was equally dismissive, with the rouble doing well on the day. Markets rose elsewhere in Europe, judging that the prospect of trade battles was receding.
Source: theguardian
