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On Jul 23, 2014, at 3:54 PM, Clay Claiborne via Marxism <[email protected]> wrote: > It also means Russia shot down MH17 as part of its war of > aggression against Ukraine and thus even though it be an accident it was > manslaughter committed during the commission of a violent crime, meaning > Russia should be charged with 298 counts of murder in the first degree by > any laws I would respect. The NATO countries, of course, do not presently have the power to bring the Russian leaders to trial. Instead, the US and its allies are trying to bring pressure to bear through their control of the global financial system. The EU today adopted tougher sanctions in line with those adopted earlier by the Obama administration as part of a staged program designed to progressively squeeze the Russian financial system and cripple the economy. Do you support these efforts? * * * EU Tightens Screws on Russia By MATTHEW DALTON and LAURENCE NORMAN Wall Street Journal July 24 2014 BRUSSELS—The European Union is moving to place sanctions on a range of Russian economic sectors, EU diplomats said on Thursday, in what would be a significant escalation of the bloc's efforts to isolate Moscow for its alleged support of rebel groups in eastern Ukraine. The EU also added new names and companies to its sanctions list, including senior officials from Russia's security services, and prepared to place oligarchs close to the Russian leadership on the list as well. Thursday's moves, which came after all-day negotiations among EU ambassadors in Brussels, show that European nations are overcoming some of the political divides that have tempered the bloc's response to the Ukraine crisis. […] The EU on Thursday added 18 entities to its sanctions list, including the separatist groups People's Republic of Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republic and some half a dozen Crimea-based companies that benefitted from the Russian annexation of the region, the diplomats said. Also targeted were 15 individuals, including senior officials from the Federal Security Service, or FSB. The head of the FSB is one of the people added to the sanctions list, EU diplomats said. Those sanctions, which include a ban on travelling to the EU and an asset freeze, are expected to take formal effect on Friday evening. The proposals for broader economic sanctions, described in a document distributed to member states and seen by The Wall Street Journal, include trade and investment restrictions and a prohibition on listing Russian financial instruments on European markets or exchanges—measures that could hit Sberbank, Russia's largest bank and one of Europe's biggest financial institutions. The measures also include trade restrictions on arms, on technology used by the Russian military and on goods used for unconventional oil exploration. * * * EU to weigh far-reaching sanctions on Russia By Peter Spiegel in Brussels Financial Times July 24 2014 EU diplomats will weigh sweeping Russian sanctions on Thursday that include a proposal to ban all Europeans from purchasing any new debt or stock issued by Russia’s largest banks, according to a proposal seen by the Financial Times. The sanctions measure, contained in a 10-page options memo prepared by the European Commission and distributed to national capitals, also proposes barring the Russian banks from listing new issues on European exchanges, preventing them from using London or other EU stock markets to raise funds from non-Europeans. The proposal would not initially include a similar prohibition for Russian sovereign bond auctions out of fear the Kremlin could retaliate by ordering an end to Russian purchases of EU government debt, the document states. But it would still be far more extensive than sanctions imposed by the US this month which only targeted two Russian banks, Gazprombank and VEB, since the EU proposal would hit all banks with more than 50 per cent public ownership. […] The options paper, which was sent to national capitals on Wednesday night, for the first time shows how extensive the preparations are in Brussels to move towards sweeping penalties that could cripple the Russian economy. “Restricting access to capital markets for Russian state-owned financial institutions would increase their cost of raising funds and constrain their ability to finance the Russian economy, unless the Russian public authorities provide them with substitute financing,” the document reads. “It would also foster a climate of market uncertainty that is likely to affect the business environment in Russia and accelerate capital outflows. “ The existence of the document – titled “Outline of an initial package of targeted measures in the areas of access to capital markets, defence, dual use good and sensitive technologies” – was first reported by the Greek daily To Vima. The copy obtained by the FT was the final version sent to national diplomats late on Wednesday. In addition to the capital markets ban, one of the most onerous measures included in the document is a proposed restriction on exporting “sensitive technologies”, which would include components needed by Russia’s critical energy sector. The ban on such technologies would incorporate a licensing system similar to that used in sanctions against Iran, and would target equipment in three sectors: deep-sea drilling, arctic exploration and shale oil extraction. Although natural gas technologies were originally considered in earlier drafts, gas-related projects would not be affected in the final proposal. While the document says such energy-related technologies account for only €150m in annual EU exports to Russia, the European Commission believes the restrictions, which are being pushed by the US, could hit Russian companies hard since they would not be able to find key components elsewhere. “Russia needs EU technologies to develop some of the most competitive and export-oriented sectors of its economy, including energy and steel production,” the memo says. “The possibility for Russia to substitute such products and technologies originating from the EU or US is low in view of the likely unavailability of similar products.” Other options included in the paper are an arms embargo, though the document says the EU exports only about €300m in weapons to Russia and it would largely affect the €3.2bn in armaments imported from Russia by Europe. Many former Warsaw Pact countries still rely on Russian military equipment. The commission also identified about €20bn in dual-use exports – goods that can be used by both civilian and military manufacturers – that could be covered by sanctions, but recommends initially targeting about €4bn in “highly sensitive” products such as machine tools and “high-performance computers and electronics”. The financial measures take up the largest section of the options memo, however, and would mirror US efforts to pressure the Putin government by destabilising Russian capital markets. US officials repeatedly cite capital outflows as a primary achievement of their sanctions regime. ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
