The National Interest (USA) "Two months ago, we were agreeing that trade and economic partnerships with Ukraine will be negotiated in concert with Russia. The idea was to choose the optimal arrangement with Ukraine so that Russia and Europe could both retain and increase their investments with Ukraine."
We have to look at history and look at what's happening today. We have a country, Ukraine, that is engaged right now in a civil war. You've got the East and the West. The E.U. made a terrible calculation by saying -- the European Union -- that you either side with us or you side with Russia, you can't do both. And that forced a split in a very tenuous country where the president sided with Russia, half the people got angry, and now we're saying with Russia supporting half of the people that we should take a side. It would be a terrible problem. Together with Germany, together with France, with [François] Hollande, the U.S. has to negotiate. That is the answer. War should not be an option. (HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, July 25, 2014)
Paul Craig Roberts via Ria Novosti: "The new sanctions announced by Washington and Europe don’t seem to make much sense. I would be surprised if Russian oil and military industries were dependent on European capital markets in a meaningful way. The Russian companies should be able to secure adequate financing from Russian Banks or from the Russian government. If foreign loans are needed, Russia can borrow from China."