Russians Know U.S. Sanction Threats Are a Joke

By Chriss Street

As Russia President Vladimir Putin consolidates his military hold on the Crimean Peninsula, President Obama signed an executive order suspending certain Russian visas and allowing the Treasury Department to impose financial sanctions on individuals and entities for “misappropriating state assets of Ukraine.” 

Both Houses of Congress are also drafting financial, trade and other sanctions against Russia. This follows the speech by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry March 2 stating that the Group of Eight (G8) and a number of countries are “prepared to go to the hilt to isolate Russia.”

But given that retaliation from the Russians would cause more pain to American businesses and might freeze Europeans to death, the Russians know U.S. sanction threats are a joke.

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