US readies unilateral sanctions on Russia

The United States signaled Tuesday it could go it alone on toughening sanctions on Russia if Europe does not agree to increase pain for Moscow over its policies in Ukraine.

A raft of unilateral measures have been prepared that President Barack Obama could use to land new blows on the Russian economy, if European officials meeting in Brussels on Wednesday do not decide to take similar steps, a senior US official told AFP.

But the White House has not yet decided on any steps that would mark a departure from its insistence on moving in tandem with Europe on sanctions, the official said, on condition of anonymity.

Intense discussions are continuing with US allies and Washington would clearly prefer to move in coordination with Europe on measures that could target sectors of the Russian economy and defense industry — because joint action would likely be most effective.

Obama has spent weeks building support among US allies for new sanctions on Moscow after unveiling measures earlier this year to target “cronies” around Russian President Vladimir Putin and officials involved in Ukraine policy.

A White House account of a conversation with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday made clear Obama believes Russia has not met conditions laid out by G7 leaders at a Brussels summit last month to stop destabilizing Ukraine.

Those conditions include steps by Russia to secure the border to prevent heavy weapons and material being sent into eastern Ukraine.

The West also wants Putin to coordinate with the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe on a border-monitoring mechanism and to use his influence with separatists to convince them to lay down their arms.

“The longer that this goes on, the more difficult it will be for us to put Ukraine on the stable, sound footing, both politically and economically, that we would like to see them be on,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday.

There have been clear signs this week that Washington is losing patience, and that it wants Europe to move on sanctions.

On Monday, the State Department issued a fact sheet detailing what it said were Russia’s continuing efforts to destabilize Ukraine and to support separatists.

Vice President Joe Biden has made repeated telephone calls to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who has presided over a military operation to seize back territory in eastern Ukraine from separatists.