EU and Russia to cancel sanctions against each other in maximum 3 months

EU sanctions and Russia's countermeasures will be lifted in maximum three months, experts of Denmark's largest bank Danske said in their report devoted to consequences of the crisis in Ukraine for the European economy.

"The escalation of trade war is unbearable for both the European Union and Russia. Therefore, the EU will refuse from sanctions within one or two months, and Russia will cancel its sanctions too," the report says, according to ITAR-TASS.

"The European Union and Russia will lose too much if they do not keep the two-way trade in energy outside the conflict. Therefore, the risk of disruption of short-term supplies is limited, and prices on oil and gas will not be subjected to strong pressure," experts of Danske Bank say.

According to Danish bankers, "the whole Ukrainian crisis will not significantly affect the state of affairs in the European economy. The highest risk is the negative sentiment on the markets.

The most vulnerable of Nordic countries of Europe in this situation is Finland, the report says. Finland is tied to Russia in the field of trade, tourism and direct investment.

As for Norway, the country may take advantage of the situation in a long-term perspective, if the EU chooses to consume Norwegian, rather than Russian natural gas, the report said.

On Wednesday, August 13, Prime Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb said that his country would not impose any sanctions against Russia in response to Russia's agricultural embargo. He described the bilateral relations with Russia as friendly and mutually beneficial. "We have good relations with Russia, and, of course, we use them to our benefit," said Stubb.

Until recently, Finnish company Valio supplied to Russia about 20 percent of its production (49 percent of total exports). In connection with food sanctions, the company is cutting exports to Russia, but hopes to maintain production at two of its factories in the Russian Federation.

Meanwhile, the authorities of Switzerland have expanded sanctions against Russia and enhanced control over the already introduced ones, the press service of the Federal Council of Switzerland says.

In particular, Switzerland tightened the embargo on arms shipments to Russia, as well on the supply of dual purpose products, such as drones, training aircraft and various simulators.

The Federal Council also promised to do everything possible not to circumvent the sanctions imposed by the European Union. The work to monitor the compliance with restrictions was entrusted to the Federal Department of Economics.

It is an open secret that Switzerland positions itself as a state that maintains a neutral position. However, the Federal Council called Russia a violator of international law in connection with Russia's move to reunite with the Crimea.  However, Switzerland has not imposed sectoral sanctions on Russia yet.

On August 12,  Swiss authorities denied aerobatic group  "Russian Knights" the right to participate in the air show, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the country's air force. In the beginning of August, Bern imposed sanctions against 26 Russians.

Pravda.Ru