Tehran, YJC. US President Barack Obama’s imposition of sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine is likely to rekindle a new Cold War, an analyst tells Press TV in an interview.
"This is a disastrous prescription for a new Cold War,” James Petras said of US’s sanctions against Russia following Crimea’s secession from Ukraine and its rejoining Russia.
The analyst said President Obama is unaware of "the consequences of the economic effects, especially on the European Union,” of the sanctions.
Petras said any toughening of sanctions, as mulled by the White House, "will simply exacerbate” the present circumstances.
"I’m fearful that Obama is on a role that they’ve seized control of the Ukraine proposing to turn it into a NATO satellite and I think the understanding in Washington is that only the use of force will have an impact on Russia,” he said.
Leaders of the world's seven major industrialized countries are to hold talks in the Netherlands to discuss the Ukraine crisis following the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea rejoining Russia.
On March 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law the documents officially making Crimea part of the Russian territory. Putin said the move was carried out based on the international law.
Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17 and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum a day earlier, in which 96.8 percent of the participants voted in favor of the move. Voter turnout in the referendum stood at 83.1 percent.
"The referendum - the free election that was held in Crimea - should have been recognized within international law as a legal right for a region with distinct characteristics to separate and form their own government and decide with whom they wish to associate,” said Petras.