Outgoing US president Barack Obama agreed with the EU to Keep Sanctions on Russia. It was an agreement that neither may be able to live up to.
US president Barack Obama and EU leaders agreed on Friday to keep in place economic sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis, dispelling suggestions they might be eased because of president-elect Donald Trump’s expressed sympathies for Moscow.
The move by six government heads at an informal summit in Berlin hosted by chancellor Angela Merkel highlighted their commitment to close transatlantic cooperation amid concerns that Mr Trump’s election might bring divisions between the US and the EU, reports Stefan Wagstyl in Berlin.
Mr Obama, making a farewell visit, urged the EU leaders to work on common challenges with the incoming Trump administration “on the basis of the core values that define the United States and Europe as open democracies,” said the White House.
I am a firm believer in two things. Sanctions don’t work. Free trade does work.
I would love to see a statement by Trump that the sanctions against Russia will end day one. That would set the proper tone for NATO discussions.
The EU lost as much by those sanctions in loss of trade as it harmed Russia.
And speaking of the EU, those diplomats cannot guarantee anything. All it takes to sink sanctions on Russia is a single EU country that refuses to go along.
This lame duck agreement is nothing but more toothless tiger nonsense. For discussion, please see EU the Toothless Tiger, Totally Dysfunctional Until it Disintegrates Into Oblivion.
Note to EU, Obama: Promising something you cannot deliver is a bad idea. Promising something that might die within a month or two (either via Trump or a single EU nation) is not only arrogant, it’s downright stupid.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
I expect the sanctions will end very rapidly under Trump.
The German industrialists want them to end so they will.
I doubt lifting sanctions will help Germany very much. The German trade losses are permanent. Russia is on the path to self-sufficiency and new sources for what the EU has to offer. There is no going back, except with those nations most friendly whose cooperation is needed, like Greece. Sanctions are now irrelevant, as the die has been cast. I mean, if you were Russia why would you hand power to be jerked around back to the EU and USA, which has institutionalized the “Crimea cause” as a “forever crusade.”
USA still has economic sanctions against Cuba, despite renewing diplomatic relations. Russia would have to expect that any removal of sanctions would be temporary, and that sanctions would be back again when the USA presidency changed hands. Hence, Russia will continue towards self-sufficiency and new sources that will not jerk them around. Germany blew it big time, and will probably blow it again with UK as Brexit takes effect. Idiocy knows no bounds.
A fair chunk of what Germany is selling, is not readily available at even close to the quality and sophistication anywhere else. More so in highly engineered higher order goods, than in consumer ones. If Russian industry is barred from obtaining those goods, they’ll have little choice but to outsource the sub assemblies dependent on them, to actors in places where they are available, or be left behind. Import substitution as an economic strategy, simply does not work.
Of course, a corollary is that if Gernany “sanctions” enough potential customers, it starts behooving those that make, or wants to make, goods currently made in Germany, to set up shop in less restrictive environs. So the loss, as Mish points out, inevitably goes both ways.
Anything Germany makes that is critical and unavailable will be reverse engineered, and “good enough” replacements are probably already making their way to Russia. South Africa became enormously self-sufficient under a world embargo. Germany, by slavishly following its USA Masters with trade sanctions, made necessary a permanent move away from Russian use of German products. Nothing Trump does will induce Russia to increase its vulnerability by going back to their old German vendors; USA Congress is still anti-Russia Neo-cons, and they could be back in control of the White House again, by hook or by crook. The trustworthiness of the German-Russia trade relationship was deliberately destroyed by the USA Neo-cons as a way to weaken Russia prior to war, with German losses or “sacrifices” being acceptable collateral damage of little real USA concern.
Russia fell for NATO promises not to expand, and got tricked by Hillary on Libya, and is not going to compromise its national security based on Trump promises that the next president will negate. Been there, done that. Anyway, Trump is America First, and Germany dug its own industrial trade grave with Russia and is on its own here. EU has already committed to another year of sanctions against Russia. Pure fantasy to think that Trump ending sanctions next year would produce any immediate change by a dysfunctional EU hell-bent on extending sanctions to the UK.
It will all make sense next year. When PRIVATE citizen Barack Obama makes $millions in speeches funded by globalists (who can’t stand Putin because they can’t control him).
Sadly for Obama, paying the Obama Foundation for play, will only let you play with a bunch of impotent has-beens. While still being soundly ignored by the new big swinging Don(ald) in town.
Obama is just trying to show he has a sense of humor, and also likes appeasing conspiracy minded cold war Democrats who miss Joe McCarthy. Didn’t the US cause the Ukraine crisis by painting them into a corner and screaming bloody murder when they didn’t roll over as planned?
I believe that within his first year in office Trump will use his influence to overturn the sanctions on Russia.
Trump is the antithesis of Obama. Trump believes that cooperation should supersede conflict. Russia is not nation building. But we sure are. Russia isn’t planting missiles on our borders. But we’re planting missiles on theirs. Russia isn’t conducting military exercises on our borders. But we’re doing so on theirs. Why wouldn’t Russia be paranoid of the fake Nobel Peace Prize winner?
If the US worked with Russia as opposed to working against Russia imagine what we could accomplish together?
Americans are tired of war and conflict and interference in other nation’s affairs. I believe we’ll turn over a new leaf in the next 4 years.
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None of you understand the art of the deal. Obama’s actions are helpful to Trump. Because of Obama’s hubris, Trump will be able to negotiate something with Russia in return for the lifting of sanctions. You should thank the egotistical Obama for helping Trump be much more effective in 60 days by leaving Trump all this legacy globalist self-inflicted stupidity to re-negotiate.
Who are you preaching to
Any trivial concession from Russia will suffice.
Heck, even with no concessions removing sanctions is a good idea.
Trade is good
I agree trade is good. Do you think President-elect Trump agrees with this concept?
Well, which statement should I believe?
The one where hes says yes, the one where he says no, or the one that is indeterminable?
I do not know if he was lying to get elected or not.
But my best guess, and strongly at that, is he is not a free trade advocate.
Being “America First,” expect Trump to be pragmatic. I doubt Trump would rule out free trade where other countries open their borders to USA exports. Tariffs are rife with scam and corruption in the 21st century USA, with most tariff money collected being transfer payments from USA consumers directly to corporations; which is why Hillary promised to pursue them on behalf of selected industries like steel. Most likely Trump will use the presidency as Teddy Roosevelt’s Bully Pulpit and wield tariff threats like a big threatening stick and avoid actual tariffs as much as possible. The guy knows the score, because as Hillary pointed out he used Chinese steel and gave a lot of construction workers jobs. If he lowers business taxes and gets rid some of the regulatory bureaucracy, USA industry will become more competitive.
The boneheaded globalist elites can’t blame their on anyone else. We don’t take Manhattan, but we can take Paris.
History’s a bitch. So permanent. Obama Gerald Ford twists and slithers in the wind, ready to be forced to enter the history books with his pardon of Hillary Nixon, for her multiple national security felonies. As it should be, for all time
Presidents come and go…but Putin remains Tsar of all the Russias.
By popular vote.
Patriarch Kirill calls Putin’s rule a “miracle of God.”
“Trade is good!”I think you are loosing the main points of concepts. Will you keep on saying this motto if Russia invades US? So simple.
Russia invades the US?
Are you on drugs?
If they all looked like this, I would welcome new Russian overlords.
http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/uploads/cmimg_12331.jpg
You are just quibbling. You know what I mean
Actually, I have no idea what you believe I am quibbling about
“Promising something that might die within a month or two (either via Trump or a single EU nation) is not only arrogant, it’s downright stupid.”
Did you honestly expect anything else by the current administration, Mish? His mighty pen, which I still feel was illegally utilized, did much to ensure his agenda’s were met in some capacity. Telling other leaders that the US would follow along was his last dig into the POTUS job. He knows very well he’s not going to be able to back any of it up after Trump is in office.