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Finland could face an economic crisis because of European Union sanctions against Russia and Helsinki will seek financial compensation from the EU if it is disproportionately hit by the measures, its prime minister said on Wednesday (6 August). Last week, the EU imposed tough sanctions targeting Russia's banking, oil and defence sectors over Moscow's stance in the Ukraine crisis. The West accuses Moscow of actively backing pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine and blames them for downing a Malaysian airliner last month. Russia denies the charges. Russia is Finland's third largest export market, accounting for about 10% of total Finnish sales...

The Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, has threatened to retaliate for the grounding of a subsidiary of Aeroflot, the national airline, because of EU sanctions, with one newspaper reporting that European flights to Asia over Siberia could be banned. Such a move would enforce costly detours on airlines, including Lufthansa and IAG, owner of British Airways, as more fuel would be needed for extended routes. Low-cost carrier Dobrolyot, operated by Aeroflot, suspended all flights last week after its airline leasing agreement was cancelled under European Union sanctions because it flies to Crimea, a region Russia annexed from Ukraine in March....

Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged his government to come up with countermeasures to Western sanctions imposed against Russia over the Ukrainian conflict. Putin stressed that Moscow’s response should be “cautious.” “Obviously we need to do it cautiously in order to support domestic manufacturers, but not hurt consumers,” he said on Tuesday. The president expects the government to present a response to the sanctions as soon as possible. Putin said that the political tools of pressure being used against the Russian economy are unacceptable, stressing that they go against international rules and norms. Putin’s comments come on the same day...

President Obama announced last week that he was imposing yet another round of sanctions on Russia, this time targeting financial, arms, and energy sectors. The European Union, as it has done each time, quickly followed suit. These sanctions will not produce the results Washington demands, but they will hurt the economies of the US and EU, as well as Russia. These sanctions are, according to the Obama administration, punishment for what it claims is Russia's role in the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and for what the president claims is Russia's continued arming of separatists in eastern Ukraine. Neither...

Various meetings have taken place between Polish and EU officials in the wake of what many believe is a politically motivated ban by Russia prohibiting the country’s produce. Poland’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Marek Sawicki met with exporters earlier yesterday following Russia’s ban on various Polish products including apples, cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines and cabbage, that took effect on August 1, 2014. Another meeting also took place last week between the agricultural minister, European Commission Director General for Agriculture, Jerzy Bogdan Plewa, and chairman of the Committee of Agricultural and Rural Development of the European Parliament, Czeslaw...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's consumer protection watchdog is preparing to suspend imports of "Kentucky Gentleman" bourbon, adding to a growing list of products Russia has banned since the West imposed new sanctions over Moscow's support of rebels in Ukraine. The Rospotrebnadzor service found signs of phthalates - organic chemicals - in the bourbon, it said on Monday in a statement on its website. www.rospotrebnadzor.ru

Seriously. Things are beginning to look kinda pathetic for the Kerry/ Obama foreign policy doctrine. Just this week Russia violated an arms treaty by testing a new type of cruise missile; and Obama’s response was to send a letter to Vladimir Putin (not joking) explaining his disapproval. Future ramifications might include a new hashtag campaign, unfriending Putin on Facebook, or sending angry text messages late at night. And, really, given the West’s reaction to Putin’s acts of aggression in Ukraine, it only makes sense that the former KGB agent would feel emboldened to disrespect an obscure Reagan era treaty. Vladimir...

MOSCOW — Russia, facing the toughest round of Western sanctions imposed since the Ukraine crisis erupted, has adopted a nonchalant public stance, with President Vladimir V. Putin emphasizing the importance of self-reliance and a new poll released Tuesday indicating a “What, me worry?” attitude among the bulk of the population. But beneath that calm facade, there is growing alarm in Russia that the festering turmoil in Ukraine and the new round of far more punitive sanctions — announced Tuesday by both European nations and the United States — will have an impact on Russia’s relations with the West for years...

"Today is a reminder that the United States means what it says," Obama said during a press conference from the South Lawn of the White House. Right before Obama spoke, the Treasury Department unveiled the new sanctions. They target Russia's energy, arms, and finance sectors. – Business Insider Interesting: Barry has targeted the same 3 sectors in America. Since he’s crippled our economy, maybe he thought this would reestablish equilibrium in the world. And if you disagree, you’re probably a racist.Posted from: Michelle Obama’s Mirror 

When president Obama announced last week that he would be imposing of a new round of sanctions on Russia, he made sure to stress that the package was designed to inflict “maximum” damage on Russia, “while limiting any spillover effects on American companies.” Left unmentioned: the fact that, earlier that same day, officials from the European Union called to inform our State Dept. that they wouldn’t be able to follow suit. If the administration wanted to go forward, they said, it would need to do so unilaterally. Less than a week before, a State Dept. official testified before the Senate...

Obama has a new get-tough policy with Russia. It’s called the War on the Billionaires. The United States is using narrow sanctions against Russian billionaires—private persons presumably-- some of whom Obama supposes supports Russia’s war in Ukraine. And the policy isn’t just bizarre; it’s Obama. He’s seen our war on millionaires here at home, and raised them a war on billionaires in Russia. “The U.S. and Europe are gearing up for a new round of sanctions expected to be announced this week that will impose travel bans and business sanctions against several Russian billionaires with ties to Russian President Vladimir...

President Obama escalated sanctions against Russia on Wednesday by targeting a series of large banks and energy and defense firms in what officials described as the most punishing measures to date for Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine. While the latest moves do not cut off entire sectors of the Russian economy, as threatened in the past, the administration’s actions go significantly further than the financial and travel limits imposed so far on several dozen individuals and their businesses. The new measures will severely restrict access to American debt markets for the targeted companies.

While it is all too easy to show the massive outperformance of Russian stocks (even after Carney's "sell" recommendation) as evidence that US sanctions were not 'punishing' as the mainstream media might suggest; this week's release of trade data shows the utter farce that the so-called "costs" imposed on Putin actually are. As WSJ reports, despite all the scaremongery and sanctioning, US exports to Russia in May hit $1.2 billion - a record high (up 21% from pre-sanctions). That will certainly teach them!!  As WSJ reports, U.S. efforts to penalize Russia for its actions in Ukraine appear to have done...

THE American guillotine has fallen. After lengthy negotiations, prosecutors and regulators announced on June 30th the penalties they planned to impose on BNP Paribas, France’s largest bank, for evading American sanctions on doing business with Cuba, Iran and the Sudan: an almost $9 billion fine, a guilty plea to criminal charges of conspiracy and falsifying records and a suspension of its right to clear certain dollar transactions. The bank’s dealings with and for Sudan—where Osama bin Laden found refuge and the UN’s attempt to stem the bloodletting in Darfur was resisted—lie at the heart of the charges against it. BNP...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday his government will lift some of its sanctions on North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s decision to create a committee to investigate the fate of at least a dozen Japanese who were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. Abe said he was satisfied the committee has the mandate to carry out a serious investigation into the abductions, though previous deals with the North have fallen through. Japan will continue to abide by UN-sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs. …

The EU has threatened to take action against Jewish settlers after Israel backed the building of 1,466 more homes on Palestinian land. EU countries said in a joint communique on Thursday (5 June) that the move is “unhelpful to peace efforts” and called on Israel to “reverse the decision”. They added that if it does not comply, they will “act accordingly” and “fully and effectively implement existing legislation in relation to settlements”. …

Editor's Note: This column was co-authored by Jed Babbin. It’s not unusual for left-wing billionaire activist George Soros to be opposed or even protested by conservatives. But when Soros is attacked by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, it’s nothing other than political fratricide. The goal of the BDS movement is to stop investment in Israel and keep countries from importing products from Israel. There is more than a little irony in the announcement last Wednesday that the BDS Movement is supposedly boycotting Soros and his network of funds and foundations because of his investment in SodaStream and...

Hillary Clinton wasn’t the only Obama administration official who went to bat for Boko Haram over the past few years. Soon after John Kerry took over as Secretary of State, the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Terence P. McCulley, accused the Nigerian government of butchery during a confrontation with Boko Haram terrorists in Baga, a Nigerian town on the shores of Lake Chad, and in May 2013 threatened to withdraw U.S. military aid from the West African nation.

According to a Nigerian website, in 2013 the United States threatened Nigeria with suspension of military assistance following suppression of Boko Haram after an attack by the Muslim jihadist group on a military outpost outside the city of Baga.  US Ambassador to Nigeria, Terrence P. McCulley reportedly called a meeting with Soros-funded Human Rights Watch and other members of the “human rights community in Nigeria.”   THEWILL gathered from a source at the meeting who opted to remain anonymous that the Ambassador called the meeting to feel the pulse of the human rights community over the violations of basic rights...

World Leadership: In retaliation for imposing sanctions over Ukraine, Moscow will bar our use of its rocket engines in launching U.S. military satellites and deny the U.S. use of the International Space Station. It may come as news to some that the nation that once used the massive Saturn V launch vehicle to put men on the moon now imports Russian rocket engines, but we do. That supply is to be cut off in response to the sanctions imposed by President Obama in response to Moscow's annexation of Crimea and its actions against Ukraine. Also to be cut off is...