European Union permanent representatives agreed on new sanctions against Russia which will be approved at the June 24 meeting of the Council of EU countries. The sanctions will be aimed mainly against the Russian energy industry and include restrictions on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
But sanctions will not damage the Russian economy, particularly, because Russia had already expected the EU decision, and had already taken steps to find consumers in Asian countries for its LNG. Thus, after his June 20 meeting in Hanoi with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Vladimir Putin said Russia is ready to carry out direct supplies of hydrocarbons, including LNG, to the country.
“Moscow no longer expects to restore any economic communication channels. We are increasingly moving towards creating alternative markets and supply channels,” Director of the Stolypin Institute of the Economics of Growth Anton Sviridenko said. Russia is now much less dependent on the European economy than it was two years ago, the expert added. Therefore, no one should expect a serious effect from the next package of sanctions, experts believe, Izvestia notes.
