The anti-Russian restrictions imposed by the United States have shown their inefficiency. They did not work as expected in Washington. Such recognition was made by the former coordinator of the US Department of State for Sanctions Daniel Fried.

"I think sanctions work in two directions and do not work in the third. Sanctions allowed to reduce the scale of Russia's aggression against Ukraine and helped to ensure that Moscow agreed to Minsk agreements. Here we are stuck, "- quotes the words of the diplomat of RIA Novosti.

According to Fred, the sanctions against Moscow in principle could not force Kiev to implement the agreements reached in Minsk. So it happened. In order to encourage the Ukrainian leadership to comply with agreements, other tools are needed.

The US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker believes that the solution of the problem, the former State Department employee believes,. "This is an excellent choice, it is respected both by Republicans and Democrats in Washington, and by Europeans and Ukrainians. I hope that he will work fruitfully with Surkov in the search for ways to implement the Minsk agreements, "said Fred.

American expert said that Western countries should continue to counter foreign policy of Russia. However, at the same time, it is necessary to leave the door open for possible continuation of cooperation in different directions, "since the current difficulties in relations between the US and Russia can not last forever".

Points of contact between Washington and Moscow can, for example, be cooperation on combating terrorism and the joint settlement of the North Korean problem. This should help potential candidate for the post of Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell. According to Fred, Mitchell is good for such work: he knows the region and is able to find a common language with the Russian side. This will be required to ensure that cooperation between the military of the two countries does not cease in any case.

At the end of August, the US ambassador in Moscow, John Tefft, lamented the low effectiveness of sanctions against Russia. "It seems to me that sanctions are such a dumb instrument. There are no questions with this, and everyone understands this, "the diplomat noted, but at the same time he recognized their necessity.

The ambassador explained that sanctions against Moscow were introduced as an alternative to military actions. "No one wanted this, and Russia did not want to enter into a war with the US, as far as I understand it. Therefore, it is necessary that there should be an attempt to express disagreement with what was regarded as a violation of international law, and for this, sanctions were introduced, "Tefft said in an interview with Ekho Moskvy,.

Due to the fact that sanctions are seen by officials on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean as a weak but inevitable measure, the question of their abolition is not seriously considered. European politicians and businessmen for the past three years have been saying that sanctions undermine the EU economy. However, influential US senators, as well as leaders of several European countries, speak only of the need to strengthen restrictive measures.

Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the German press that the Russian initiative to establish a UN mission to promote the protection of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in the southeast of Ukraine is not a ground for lifting restrictions. "In this direction, we must work further, but these are sprouts that do not yet give rise to a reduction in sanctions. Substantial progress has to be made, which we unfortunately do not yet have, "the German leader said..