German business lobby group calls European Union sanctions a mistake
BERLIN: The European Union's new economic sanctions against Russia are a "mistake" because they were imposed just as a week-old ceasefire was bringing calm to the embattled east of Ukraine, the leader of a German business lobby group was quoted saying on Sunday.
Eckard Cordes, chairman of Germany's Committee on Eastern European Economic relations, said his group, which represents the interests of about 200 companies with investments in Russia, had wanted sanctions to be delayed to help bolster the ceasefire.
"We had hoped that the ceasefire could be strengthened by delaying the sanctions," Cordes told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper, calling them a "mistake."
"The new sanctions will not help to relieve tensions. We're probably at the start of a perilous spiral of sanctions."
The United States and European Union imposed new sanctions against Russia on Friday, tightening financial measures against Moscow over its intervention in Ukraine.
Sanctions from the EU would limit access by Russian oil companies to funds. Sanctions from the United States hit Russia's biggest bank and an arms maker, and bar US firms from helping five Russian oil firms explore hard to reach deposits.
Cordes' group has said German exports to Russia could fall as much as 20-25 per cent this year due to the effect of sanctions.
Germany Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, however, he believed the sanctions would have an effect on Putin.
"I very much hope so," Gabriel told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "Russia's economic situation is already far from good. But at the same time everything must be done to get all parties involved back to the negotiating table."
Germany is Russia's biggest trading partner in the European Union and sold about 36 billion euros of goods there last year - almost a third of the EU's total.
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German business lobby group calls European Union sanctions a mistake