Severe sanctions could stop Putin’s invasion, says professor

Russia’s recognition of the independence of Ukraine’s breakaway regions has generated a reaction from Western countries, but only tougher sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s country can deter him from an invasion of Ukraine, said Angelo Segrillo, a professor of contemporary history at USP. and researcher at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow, to CNN this Tuesday (22).

“Putin is a former spy, used to playing rough and playing dirty. [A Rússia] it can be stopped with perhaps the strongest sanctions of an invasion. The problem is that Putin simply recognized provinces that in practice acted as independents, a strange situation because they were Ukrainian citizens of Russian ethnic origin who did not accept the fall of the government in 2014,” explained Segrillo.

So far, on the military issue, Putin has ordered the Defense Ministry to dispatch Russian “peace forces” to two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine — which has not yet urged the promised blockades if there was, in fact, a territorial invasion.

“[As sanções do ocidente] are still limited. What will prevent Putin from taking other steps are severe sanctions, perhaps like what they did with Iran”, exemplifies the professor, citing blocks made through the international system of financial transfers (SWIFT) to Iranian banks and financial institutions after the development. of a nuclear program in the country.

In addition to this factor, Angelo Segrillo stated that Russia now has “peculiar” support from China, which is in favor of ending US global hegemony, but, on the other hand, is not in favor of a change in the status-quo of sovereignty. of the countries since it also disputes Taiwan in this sense.

“China doesn’t want anyone messing with Taiwan, which it considers a province. It’s a position that’s not fully supportive [à Rússia]is an ambiguity, but China supports Russia in the attempt to have a multipolar world to escape American domination”, he explained.