Ben Aris, Editor-in-Chief at Business New Europe, assesses the impact of sanctions and the West’s ability to force Russia’s hand in Ukraine:

‘As meaningful sanctions have yet to be imposed and almost certainly will not be, and notwithstanding the effects of the threat of financial measures against Russia as outlined in this paper, the change in the domestic political landscape in Putin’s favour is probably the biggest single consequence of the confrontation over Ukraine and the imposition of western sanctions on Russia to date.’