LONDON, October 24. /TASS/. New sanctions and weapons will not bring the end of the conflict in Ukraine desired by US President Donald Trump any closer, but can potentially strengthen Russia's negotiating position, The Guardian said in its Opinion column.
"Some ostensible supporters of Ukraine may secretly prefer to keep the war going. But several years with no progress should lead the rest of us to reassess what US power can actually achieve in Ukraine at acceptable costs," it said.
The newspaper notes that the current measures in the form of the seizure of frozen assets abroad and numerous sanctions, to which Russia has been able to adapt, do not exert significant pressure on Moscow. The unlikely supply of Tomahawk missiles by the United States will also not change the situation at the front, so a negotiated settlement of the conflict would be "frustrating - but still better than many alternatives" for Ukraine.
The Guardian believes that the United States failed to correctly calculate the limits of its power, putting Kiev in a long-term predicament "that no one will remember as a victory."
On Wednesday, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, and their 34 subsidiaries. White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that Washington expects that these restrictions will put significant pressure on Moscow as the conflict in Ukraine rages on.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that the new American restrictions will not significantly affect the "economic well-being" of the country. Putin pointed out that the sanctions represent an unfriendly act against Moscow, this step "does not strengthen Russian-American relations, which have just begun to recover." With such actions, the US administration only damages Russian-American relations, the president stated.