Sanctions imposed on Russia by the US and the EU are a part of a larger military agenda agreed by NATO in a summit 2014, Michel Chossudovsky, of the Centre for Research and Globalisation, told RT, calling such a strategy economic and financial warfare.
RT:Despite the truce in Ukraine, the EU and the US went ahead with fresh rounds of sanctions – why was the de-escalation of the conflict in the east not enough to prevent them, when they themselves made this the key condition?
Michel Chossudovsky: We first have to address the geopolitical background of these sanctions. These sanctions are in fact part of a broader process of what I would describe as economic and financial warfare. Those in turn are supportive of a military agenda, which was defined about a week ago at the NATO summit in Wales. And whereby I mean, the Western military alliance – the US, NATO and the EU – have made threats directed against the Russian Federation.
These threats are also contained in the legislation which is currently in the US Senate and is called the Russian Aggression Prevention Act. I do not think we can divorce the economic sanctions from understanding of the clash between Russia and the West.
Now we have to say who the aggressor is.
There is absolutely no evidence that Russia has intervened militarily in east Ukraine. The western media suggests otherwise, but they have not even provided any photographic evidence to that affect, and consequently they are going to start threatening Russia with sanctions and think that Russia is intervening in east Ukraine. These accusations are baseless.
RT:The EU and the US are saying sanctions could be eased or lifted. What can Russia do for that to happen?
MC: What we're witnessing is the breakdown of international diplomacy. We're not even in what one may describe as a new Cold War, because the Cold War had a whole series of protocols of understanding.
The West is fabricating evidence and accusing Russia. They are accusing Russia of the downing of the MH17 Malaysian airliner, and then the Dutch report which has just been released suggests otherwise if you read it carefully.
We have an illegal government in Ukraine. That government is involved in killing its own people. It is largely responsible for the humanitarian disaster in east Ukraine.
The Russians are providing humanitarian aid to east Ukraine. They are not intervening militarily and President Putin has taken the initiative of presenting a peace proposal that was accepted under the auspices of the OSCE. I should mention the OSCE have made another really important statement and said there was absolutely no evidence of Russian tanks or military crossing the border. And that came from the official OSCE sources.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.