The U.S. has reinforced its sanctions against Russia, aimed at 7 government officials and 17 companies related to the core interests of Vladimir Putin. It has also refused to issue export permits for all military high-tech projects.

This all shows that Obama is adopting a “containment” policy to undermine Putin economically and politically in the coming years, thus weakening his influence over Russia.

Practically speaking, Obama’s containment policy may not be as effective in practice as is seemed when first proposed. The international economy is more interdependent and political power is more widely dispersed.

Obama has not yet convinced his European allies to give active support to his policy of containment. For many European countries it seems an overreaction to impose harsh sanctions on Russia unless Russian troops are dispatched to the east of Ukraine.

This attitude was particularly obvious during the visit of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to the United States. Germany has 6000 companies in Russia and nearly 30 percent of its natural gas and petroleum come from Russia. While showing its solidarity with the U.S., Merkel emphasized that a comprehensive solution was needed when the U.S. and the EU discuss sanctions on Russia if damage to the interests of some EU countries is to be avoided.

Politically, the U.S. has encountered bigger obstacles in isolating Russia. In the United Nations vote on Ukraine many key countries were unwilling to side with America. India and South Africa abstained and America’s firm ally Israel was absent from the vote.

The Ukraine has already split. Even without Russian intervention, the country is still faced with a major task: to rebuild Ukraine, establish its national consensus and revive its economy.

Rather than trying to contain Russia, what the U.S. needs to do is cooperate and look for solutions based on negotiations. Otherwise, the situation is likely to deteriorate.

The article is edited and translated from "遏制"能对俄一剑封喉吗？ Source:People's Daily Overseas Edition