Norberg: can the EU make US flexible approach to the crisis in Ukraine

Dmitry Zlatarev. EU countries have the opportunity to get the US to take a more flexible position towards the crisis in Ukraine, said Last news the head of the Russian-American Pacific partnership (RAPP) Derek Norberg.

"It seems that the EU had expressed interest in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine was eliminated, even frozen, if only the parties had the opportunity at least to some extent, to return to normal economic relations," He said.

the specialist suggested that the Europeans would be " increasingly difficult to hold a single position on sanctions against Russia." He explained that " in 2013 the share of Russia in EU exports was 12, 5%, and for some countries the market of the Russian Federation is one of the main, not to mention the fact that the Russian Federation is a key supplier of energy resources ".

in connection with the situation in Ukraine, EU Countries, USA And Canada in the spring of the past year have introduced against Russia 1st batch of sentences, then It was expanded And became an point restrictive measures against certain sectors of the economy. In response, Russia has imposed in the last month of summer 2014 retaliatory punishment which has spread to the products of the agricultural sector from the EU, USA, Canada And some other countries that have joined the anti-Russian sanctions policy. Moscow has stated many times that is not a party to the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian side officially participates as an intermediary in the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.

"in my opinion, the European Union will increasingly question the wisdom of increasing the penalties that had no real influence on Russia's position. And in this regard I dream that Europe will become the factor that will force the United States to make their own approach to the crisis in Ukraine is more flexible, " said Norberg. He also expressed hope that the Cabinet of Ministers of Russia won't support Ukrainian militias And give them the opportunity " to extend the zone of conflict to other regions ".

Chapter RAPP also confident that " the current economic And political Crisis of power in Ukraine shows that the country can hardly be considered a good candidate in a district in the Western Alliance." According to his statement, " in the next few years will face challenges, And to join Western structures will be very costly to the plant from an economic point of view, whereas the benefits in this are able to only be a political one ".

Norberg admitted that " the Ukrainian government, unfortunately, can have a monetary interest in the conflict."" It Clearly is not seeking a military solution, but as long as on the territory of Ukraine continues open conflict, the authorities may delay payments to Western creditors. Once the crisis in the Donbass will be resolved, Ukraine will need to begin to return a very large debt to Western borrowers, " He said.

RAPP has positioned itself As the only forum in the public And private sectors aimed at developing cooperation between the American West And the Russian East. Members of this organization are several dozen organizations of Russia And the USA.

The full text of the interview is available on the Internet office of ria. EN.


sections: Politics