A major reason why the United States has threatened Ukraine with sanctions is that it is deeply concerned with growing economic ties between Moscow and Kiev, says Patrick Basham of Democracy Institute.
On Tuesday, US senators approved a resolution that specified strong measures against Ukraine, including visa bans and asset freezes against individuals responsible for ordering or carrying out violence against anti-government protesters.
Anti-government protests in Ukraine started after President Viktor Yanukovych refrained from signing an association agreement with the European Union at the third Eastern Partnership Summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, in November 2013.
Å“These protests in Ukraine in Kiev were against the Ukrainian governmentâ„¢s decision not to seek, not to go ahead with further economic integration with the EU but rather to seek to join Russiaâ„¢s new economic union with neighboring Eastern European countries and that is a great concern to the United States and to the EU,” Basham told Press TV on Thursday.
Å“America and the EU strongly wish that the Ukrainian government had made a different decision,” he added.
Basham went on to say that sanctions would do no good. Å“The problem with sanctions and the reason I generally oppose sanctions is that most of the time they simply do not work, there are examples where they have been effective but the research tells us that majority of the time they do not work and sadly and unfortunately they tend to have the unintended consequence of hurting those who are actually trying to help”.
EU leaders blame Russia for Ukraineâ„¢s refusal to sign the deal, saying they will not allow Moscow to Å“veto” deals in Eastern Europe.
However, Ukrainian and Russian officials had previously accused Washington and the EU of meddling in Ukraine’s internal affairs, saying the US is trying to rally people against the Ukrainian government due to its strong ties to Russia.
AT/ISH
Source: Press TV