Kathrine Frich
Ukrainian leaders welcomed the financial pressure
When superpowers clash over trade, the ripple effects touch every corner of the global economy.
A new set of financial penalties has just been signed into law in Washington, and the international reaction is immediate.
The move now threatens to derail diplomatic hopes in a long-running conflict.
Hard to end the war
President Donald Trump has signed a sweeping new sanctions bill targeting Russia. The legislation allows the US president to slap punitive tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries buying Russian oil and gas.
Major trading partners are in the crosshairs. But the fiercest reaction came from Moscow on Monday according to Moscow Times.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned the law will damage relations between Washington and Moscow. He said it would also make ending the war in Ukraine much harder.
Hopes for peace fade
“The signing of this document is certainly something that doesn’t contribute to the resuscitation of our bilateral relations,” Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters.
He added, “It is also of course unlikely to contribute to more successful progress along the path toward a settlement in Ukraine.”
Peskov claimed international buyers “unanimously reject” the secondary sanctions. Those buyers are already pushing back against the threat.
Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said his government is reviewing the legislation. Indian officials recently stressed the country will maintain energy imports through diversified sourcing.
A fierce pushback
China issued a strong warning over the weekend. The Chinese commerce ministry stated that Beijing reserves the right to “take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard China’s national sovereignty and development interests, as well as the legitimate and just rights and interests of Chinese companies.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian leaders welcomed the financial pressure. President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Trump for signing the bill into law, AFP reported.
Zelensky is scheduled to meet the US president in New York this week. The original sanctions legislation was championed by the late US Senator Lindsey Graham.
Back in Moscow, Dmitry Medvedev demanded a military response. The deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council lashed out at the new economic penalties.
“Even across the ocean, they hear only the language of direct military deterrence, and that’s the language in which we should respond to Russophobic atrocities such as the law of the dead terrorist Graham,” Medvedev said, as reported by Reuters.
Sources: Reuters, AFP
