Western sanctions against Russia will damage Ukraine’s economy, presidential adviser says

MOSCOW, March 14,  /ITAR-TASS/. Russian presidential adviser Sergei Glazyev has said that Ukraine will be imminently dragged into sanctions which Western countries are threatening to impose on Russia.

“In that case, it (Ukraine) will turn into a wild field in economic terms,” Glazyev told the CIS International Economic Forum on Friday.

“In combination with a threat of imposing penalties into which Ukraine will apparently be dragged, the economic damage from that outside pressure can turn out to be catastrophical for Ukraine. It could have been disastrous even if Ukraine had legitimately entered into association with the European Union. But in that case (anti-Russian sanctions) the disaster will be imminent and full-scale, and Ukraine will simply turn into a wild field in economic terms,” Glazyev went on to say, adding that the consequences will be no less negative for the European Union.

“We are simply surprised by European politicians’ readiness to join the totally ungrounded sanctions in a sense that the penalties may backlash with energy losses and terrible destabilization of the banking system,” the Russian presidential adviser explained, noting that possible sanctions against Russia could call the stability of the already weak European currency into question.

Glazyev believes that Russia should be doing more explanatory work in Europe.

Meanwhile, Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev said on Friday that the political crisis in Ukraine was unlikely to affect the rouble rate and Russia’s budget stability too much.

“We do not think it will have any serious consequences for the rouble rate, the budget or Russia’s financial stability. In this sense, the problem is not so sensitive,” Ulyukayev told journalists in Brussels when asked about a possible economic impact of Ukrainian crisis on the Russian economy.