MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) - The atmosphere in which the EU decided to expand the list of sanctions against Russia demonstrates that Europe does not have a common position on the Ukrainian crisis resolution, Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (CFDP) Honorary Chairman, expert on Russia-EU relations Sergei Karaganov said.
"It looks like they do not have a common position or even a clearunderstanding of what should be done. Besides and, probably, most importantly, the crisis continues to evolve. Although everyone is customarily talking about Crimea, as they are expected to, the biggest problem lies in Ukraine. None in the EU thinks or speaks about what should be done under these circumstances," Karaganov told Interfax on Friday.
The way the EU decision on sanctions has been made shows that the European Union is at a loss: they have not figured out the Ukrainian situation and the sanctions' implications for Europe, the expert noted.
"Obviously, the events came as a shock for European countries. The publications of the past two or three days showed that the EU did not figure out the consequences. And this leads to serious questions about the adequacy of EU decisions. The EU simply does not know what to do next. They are guided by Washington to some extent. The Americans are tightening sanctions and the EU has to react some way," he said.
Another weakness of the EU is its inability to influence the new Kyiv authorities with the purpose of Ukrainian stabilization, Karaganov opined.
"If the Ukrainian authorities are unable to take control of the situation, and it looks like they are at least on economic issues, the situation will continue to exacerbate. That will be happening irrespective of the steps of Brussels," the expert presumed.