Story highlights New Russia sanctions risk driving a wedge between US and allies, Richard Connolly says

Some European countries see move as a naked economic power grab by US, he says

Richard Connolly is an associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House, a foreign affairs think tank based in London. The opinions in this article belong to the author.

(CNN) Since the annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and the subsequent involvement of Russia in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Western powers -- led by the United States and European Union -- have been remarkably firm in maintaining a united front when it came to the hard business of dealing with Russia.

This was nowhere more notable than in the West's use of economic statecraft as the primary tool in exerting pressure on Russia to change its policy concerning Ukraine

The sanctions regime that gradually came into effect targeted strategic sectors of the Russian economy, including energy, defense and finance. But as well as hitting Russian entities, Western firms also suffered.

American and European manufacturing and energy giants lost a lot of money. The sale of French warships and German machinery was halted. Billions of dollars' worth of investments by energy giants such as ExxonMobil, Total and Shell were postponed. Businesses in countries with historically close commercial ties with Russia -- such as Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria -- were hit especially hard.

But the considerable economic cost paid by Western firms made the political cohesion on sanctions that has held until today all the more impressive. Despite the economic pain, the political gain of maintaining a unified front was considered to be more important. Central to this cohesion sticking was a clear effort at coordination between Washington and Brussels.

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