The US has extended for one year some of the sanctions introduced earlier against Russia in relation to the crisis in Ukraine.

"I continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13660," US President Barack Obama's statement said. Executive Order 13660, signed by Obama on March 6th 2014, authorized a national emergency in relation to Russia.

According to the President, “the actions and policies of persons that undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine; threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets, continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” RIA Novosti cited Obama.

Obama has extended for one year all of the sanctions introduced in 2014, including the latest economic sanctions against Crimea.

The deputy dean of the Faculty of Global Economics and International Affairs of the Higher School of Economics National Research University, Andrei Suzdaltsev, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the West will not lift sanctions against Russia, regardless of Russian mediation efforts in the conflict in Ukraine."The fact is that initially, when the Minsk Agreement was signed, the West in the personae of Merkel and Hollande and Obama said that Russia will be responsible for everything that happens in the Donbass, and unilaterally. From the start the Ukrainian side was absolved from criticism, and now it continues to inform the world, filling the information space with messages that Ukraine is being shelled by militias. And it's taken on trust, without any verification. There is evidence that guns are buried and tanks are moving in circles. But Russia is guilty a priori, therefore we must remember that the West is not going to loosen the grip of sanctions," he explained.

The deputy dean of the Faculty of Global Economics and International Affairs of the Higher School of Economics National Research University, Andrei Suzdaltsev, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the West will not lift sanctions against Russia, regardless of Russian mediation efforts in the conflict in Ukraine.

"The fact is that initially, when the Minsk Agreement was signed, the West in the personas of Merkel and Hollande and Obama said that Russia will be responsible for everything that happens in the Donbass, and unilaterally. From the start the Ukrainian side was absolved from criticism, and now it continues to inform the world, filling the information space with messages that Ukraine is being shelled by militias. And it's taken on trust, without any verification. There is evidence that guns are buried and tanks are moving in circles. But Russia is guilty a priori, therefore we must remember that the West is not going to loosen the grip of sanctions," he explained.



The director of the Institute of International Economics at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ruslan Greenberg, expressed the view that the extension of US sanctions are unlikely to exacerbate the situation in the Russian economy, because the main blows have already been made. "It was expected. The US never cancels anything, even if the reason has disappeared. So the Americans will not lift the sanctions even after the situation in Ukraine is resolved. But Europe is waiting for a political settlement to happen. It is very interested in lifting the sanctions," Greenberg said.





In addition, he added, if the RF is cut off from Swift, it will not be a big blow to the country. "We are now prepared for another financial environment. If it happened 10-15 years ago, it would be a disaster, but now the situation is better," the economist concluded.