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Confronting Kremlin

The anti-Kremlin legislation that will bring in stringent curbs on defence-related industries is being seen as a final intimidating measure to pressure Moscow. But whether it works or not is a million-dollar question, as similar tactics from Western states have fallen flat. The most intriguing aspect of this bill, which was overwhelmingly passed by the Republican-dominated Congress, is that President Obama is not on the same page. Yet, he is under constitutional compulsions to sign it intolaw.

Obama, who had taken an exception from the dominating course of adventurism in foreign policy, believes that his counterpart Vladimir Putin couldn’t be cowed down through such mechanisms. That is why apparently the White House has maintained a safe distance from the European Union’s eagerness to slap indiscriminate sanctions, and had played soft by preferring pro-active diplomacy. It is not only the issue of Ukraine and security of Europe that come under the scanner as Russia is annoyed, but also the strategic advancement in disarmament that the US had attained all these decades. That is why Obama had been conscious to the fact that pushing Putin to the wall could be counter-productive. Nonetheless, the fact that Washington had spearheaded the momentum to stop Russia well within its borders when it comes to the question of Ukrainian territorial integrity had worked wonders.

The new leaf of sanctions has, however, come at a time when the Russian currency, rouble, had nose-dived and oil prices have plunged on the international market. Moreover, Moscow’s decision to suspend the supply of natural gas to low-lying European nations and scrap a pipeline project southward have dealt a major blow to global economy, and almost derailed the geo-economic harmony that existed between Europe and Russia. The economic pinch is now widely being felt all across the region. That is why the US, in an extraordinary attempt to lure the Russians, has said that it is up to the leadership in Kremlin to decide on the date to end the sanctions.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who met his counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Rome, had reportedly apprised him of the climbdown prospects, if normalcy has to set in. In other words, it means Moscow has to seriously reconsider its expansionist strategy over eastern Ukraine and Crimea. If that doesn’t happen, then this new bill empowers the office of Obama to provide lethal and non-lethal military assistance to Kiev. That would tantamount to cementing a new Cold War in the region.