Sanctions against Russia will only backfire to the West

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin believes that sanctions against Russia can not lead to the isolation of the country. He is confident that such policies will only backfire to the West.

Rogozin touched upon the issue of sanctions against Russian at Tekhnoprom 2014 Forum in Novosibirsk. "In the U.S., they now openly talk about a new round of the containment policy of Russia. Containment what? We are not going anywhere geographically. It goes about the containment of the technological development," he said.

Rogozin is certain that the policy of sanctions will backfire. "No one will ever be able to isolate our country. This contradicts to the national character of the Russian people: when one forbids something for us, we want it even more," said Dmitry Rogozin.

He believes that Russia should be cautious about active suggestions of technological cooperation. "We would be lazy then. Now I can say that we expect a technological breakthrough," Interfax quoted the vice-premier as saying.

The United States and several European countries do not want to leave the issue of sanctions against Russia alone. At the same time, Western politicians want Moscow to recognize the legitimacy of Ukrainian President-elect Poroshenko, withdraw troops from the border with Ukraine and, as President Barack Obama said, use influence on armed men in eastern Ukraine to "convince them to put an end to violence, lay down their arms and engage in a dialogue with the authorities."

Should "Russia's provocations" continue, Obama promised to take "additional measures" against our country. The list of such measures included the so-called third phase of sanctions to affect separate sectors of the Russian economy - for example, the banking sector, the mining industry, energy and so on.

Clearly, the West threatens Russia with sanctions to put pressure on Russia's policies. The question is how effective it can be.

But if we talk about a technological breakthrough - does Russia have the resources for that?

"Sanctions can be seen both as a tragedy and an opportunity to consolidate resources and think what we can do ourselves. It is important to keep the sense of proportion here. The North Koreans, for instance, took the bid on their own strength to absurdity. They try to do everything themselves, but nothing works out. There is no point in doing everything alone, but in a number of areas, where dependence is high, one should try and do it," the head of the department for applied political science of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Konstantin Simonov, told Pravda.Ru.

"If we choose the right priorities, I think success is possible. A priority can be the defense industry, telecommunications, oil and gas complex. In the oil and gas sector, Russia is now 30 percent dependent on foreign equipment. This is not right. One should change the tax system and encourage foreign oil companies to order equipment from Russian companies. We have great experience, history, science and people," said the analyst.

"The right thing to do is to take important priorities and focus on them. Of course, in today's world, it is foolish to try to do everything yourself. Russia must not separate itself from the rest of the world. Sanctions, in some areas, could help us in our development," said Konstantin Simonov.

Oleg Artyukov
Pravda.Ru

Read the original in Russian