Economics
U.S. Drip-Feed of Sanctions Seen Risking Putin Backlash
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The latest U.S. penalties against Vladimir Putin’s inner circle may provoke the Russian president into escalating the Ukraine crisis without crippling key sectors of his nation’s economy.
The sanctions imposed by the Obama administration yesterday on seven officials and 17 companies won’t go unanswered, with the statement by the White House press secretary “prompting disgust,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in comments published on the ministry’s website. Russia is preparing retaliatory measures in response to the latest round of sanctions, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said today, according to Interfax.