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West plans to impose sanctions on Russiaâ€™s energy, finance and banking sectors

25 March 2014 09:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku – APA. “G7 leaders have determined in which economic sectors of Russia can be imposed sanctions. APA reports quoting “Gazeta.ru” that the new sanctions will cover energy, financial and defense areas.

“I think there’s agreement on what the most important sectors are to focus on. Energy is one of them; finance and banking is another; the arms sector is another. And the leaders did discuss that moving to sectoral sanctions would bring economic consequences for the global economy and for some of the individual countries. And everybody recognizes that there is a cost associated with those actions.

However, number one, the cost is far greater for the Russians who stand much more to lose from isolation from the global economy,” said the senior official of the White House.

G7 leaders adopted a joint Declaration on the outcomes of The Hague meeting, which supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine and threatened tough sanctions if Russia continues to escalate the tension. G7 countries rejected G8 format, which also includes Russia.

State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said that Russia’s G8 membership was much more important for Moscow than other participant countries and it would be impossible to replace G8 with other formats. According to her, being a member of the club of developed countries is important for Russia’s economy. Asked about whether BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) can replace G8 for Russia or not, Harf said: “The economic damage Russia has already suffered due to its action in Crimea. It can look for another alternative, but the economy is in stagnation. If Russia doesn’t take steps to deescalate the tension, it will face serious negative consequences.”

“The Russian stock market's down 20 percent this year already. That's the worst performing index in the world. That's $75 billion of market value wiped away, due in large part to the power and reach of our sanctions,” said Harf.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov played down the G8 snub.

“If our Western partners believe the format has exhausted itself, we don't cling to this format. We don't believe it will be a big problem if it doesn't convene,” he told reporters.