Russia could sanction USA, not the other way around: Analyst

Russia could sanction the US not the other way around and the idea of isolating Russia is more than empty rhetoric, an analyst writes in a column for the Press TV website.

“The recent threats by the US, sanctions against Russia, are beyond insane. Russia could sanction the US, not the other way around and the idea of “isolating” Russia is infantile, Gordon Duff wrote on Wednesday.

He also noted that the disintegration of Ukraine was an aforethought plot devised by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Ukraine served as a “Cold War battleground” before the former Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

“Destabilizing Ukraine was a CIA priority and working with Ukrainian groups in the US and “expats” around the world was a major effort for a number of intelligence agencies,” he wrote.
Duff said the CIA promoted “extremism and ultra-nationalist movements” in order to implement its plots.

“Ukraine was built to fail. Sitting on Russia’s vital southern border, protocols negotiated during the breakup of the Soviet Union specified mutual defense agreements that prohibit Ukraine from joining NATO,” he wrote.
Political crisis erupted in Ukraine in November 2013, after the country’s ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.

Duff also underscored Europe’s dependence on Russia’s gas, saying, “Russian gas heats Europe. Russia is awash with money.”

The US has repeatedly threatened Russia with sanctions over its actions in Ukraine specially its military build-up in the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow would have to respond in such situations that are provoked by “Washington’s rash and irresponsible actions.”