On April 1, United States Congress voted for allocation of financial aid to Ukraine. The bill that also includes sanctions against Russiawas supported by 378 deputies of the House of Representatives.
Earlier this document was approved by the Congress Senate. Its provisions stipulate punitive sanctions against persons undermining sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine specifically against “people in Russian Federation involved in large-scale corruption and responsible for it.”
Sanctions freeze up assets under US jurisdiction and refuse issuance of American entrance visas. The limitations are applied not only to persons guilty in undermining of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine or corruption in Russia, but to their business partners and family members.
The bill also provides for credit guarantees to Ukraine at the sum of 1 billion US dollars. Moreover, the bill allocates 50 million USD for strengthening of civil society in Ukraine and 100 million USD more for broadening of cooperation with East European partners in security area.
Certainly, such decisive measures of Congress evidence the effort of the state to counteract military aggression of Russia to make it understand that the world community shall not forgive Putin intrusion into sovereign states. Considering that Ukraine voluntarily refused from nuclear weapons and Russia in its turn guaranteed Ukrainian territorial integrity recent events in Crimea appear to be a spit on any guarantees made by Putin and his helpers.
American example should be followed by Europe, from which only promises and apprehensions of worsening of trade negotiations with Russia are heard. Acting in such a way part of EU state leaders silently support policy of Russian Federation and accept Crimea annexation. It looks like they surrender Ukrainian effortsto meet their own economic interests.
Of course,European energy independence from Russia is an issue that will take a decade to be settled and application of sanctions presently looks unreasonable. Then, there is another way- to give economic impulse to Ukraine itself. It is needed to provide Ukraine with financial resources, economic preferences, to develop economic and technical cooperation between our enterprises. Ukraine is well-known forrelatively cheap labor force and huge human resources that in cooperation with our industry and high technologies in different areas can develop economic miracle in Ukraine.
To make our help to Ukraine effective it is necessary to involve European Investment Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development that also declare their intentions to invest in Ukrainian economy, but no specific arrangements are initiatedso far.
Only European politics, as it is seen, do not keep their word and continue promising Ukraine to provide financial help while our American partners already grant it.