U.S. allies: Wait on sanctions
Germany, others urge taking softer tack toward Russia
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s plans to impose punitive economic sanctions on Russia — potentially its strongest response to Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine — already are facing resistance from administration allies in Congress and Europe.
Though administration officials say they are prepared to freeze assets of top Russian officials and possibly target state-run financial institutions, European allies, who are heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas supplies, signaled they aren’t ready to follow suit.
Top Democrats on Capitol Hill also are split, with some, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., arguing the administration should wait for European support to gave the sanctions more bite.
“To be effective, sanctions need to be multilateral, not unilateral,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday in a statement.
Other lawmakers, including House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said they support sanctions and are ready to move quickly to adopt them.
President Barack Obama sought to emphasize agreement among world leaders, saying during an appearance at a Washington public school that “together, the international community has condemned Russia’s violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.”
But key European governments, including those in Germany, Britain, France and Italy, indicated in emergency meetings in Brussels that, for now at least, they prefer other routes of persuasion.
The split underscores a broader divide between the United States and Europe, partners in the NATO alliance for 65 years, over how to deal with Russia.
Europe, closer and more intertwined economically, doesn’t share America’s enthusiasm for sanctions as a diplomatic tool and worries that curbing trade and busi- ness could hurt it without persuading Russian President Vladimir Putin to remove troops from Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
Russia is the European Union’s No. 3 trading partner, following only the United States and China. Trade totaled $462 billion in 2012, more than 10 times America’s $40 billion trade with Russia, mostly between banks, energy companies and consumer products concerns.
Europe has little alternative to Russian energy.
Europe’s mood “is indicative of the uphill battle in the effort to make some of these sanctions effective,” said Andrew Weiss, a former Clinton administration adviser on Russia and now vice president for research at the nonpartisan Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“Sanctions will make it look like we’re responding and will give the administration something to point to. … But I’m not sure if we’re firing off sanctions bullets that we’ll be as effective on the diplomatic side,” he added.
The Europeans have turned for leadership to Germany, which has the best relationship with Russia. Though Chancellor Angela Merkel’s aides have declared an interest in asserting a more “robust” foreign policy, they have been notably cautious in the Ukraine crisis, in part to keep a separate diplomatic channel open.
They have resisted proposals, for example, to kick Moscow out of the G-8 group of leading industrial nations.
Instead, they have argued for direct talks with Moscow and for setting up a “contact group,” a diplomatic committee that would keep all sides informed of developments but wouldn’t seek to mediate the crisis.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier acknowledged after multiple conversations with Russian diplomats in Geneva that he has so far made no headway, however, describing the talks as “difficult, long and serious.”
French and British diplomats who usually are close U.S. allies in international disputes also are “taking a softer course” on how to respond to Russia. They worry that “if they try too much to isolate Russia they will isolate themselves” in the United Nations Security Council, where Russia has veto power, said Jan Techau, director of the Carnegie think tank’s European office.
The Obama administration has suspended military ties with Russia, including exercises, port visits and planning meetings, as well as calling off trade talks. Obama has warned he also is considering other moves “that will isolate Russia and will have a negative impact on Russia’s economy and its standing in the world.”