Austria pointed to the inability of the West to isolate Russia with sanctions

Western countries will not be able to isolate Russia with sanctions, much less defeat a nuclear power in direct confrontation. This opinion was expressed by Austrian geopolitical analyst Patrick Poppel in an interview with Izvestia on October 26.

"The economic war against Russia, that is, the isolation of Russia by sanctions, does not work. You cannot isolate the largest country in the world. <...> You cannot win a war against a nuclear power. It won't work. Because every state has the right to defend itself by all available means and ensure state sovereignty," Poppel said.

In his opinion, Russian President Vladimir Putin's statements about the completion of the tests of the Burevestnik intercontinental cruise missile are primarily addressed to the West, which deliberately entered into the conflict in Ukraine.

"The West has decided on this conflict with Ukraine, continuing to support this corrupt and criminal state without any real arguments, which is a dangerous development. And we are increasingly coming to the conclusion that there may be an escalation between the West and Russia. And, accordingly, Russia should prepare for this," the analyst stressed.

Poppel added that Russia consistently defends its security, while in Europe there are increasingly sentiments that contribute to the escalation of the conflict. In addition, he expressed the hope that world leaders would keep their cool and take into account the real consequences of further actions.

Paper curtain: EU approves 19th package of sanctions against Russia

The restrictions affected banks, the "shadow fleet", the crypto market and tourism

On October 23, the head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, announced that the European Union (EU) had adopted the 19th package of sanctions against Russia. She noted that the restrictions are aimed, in particular, at Russian banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, organizations in India and China. At the same time, the European Union will restrict the movement of Russian diplomats.

On the same day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow considers the new US restrictive measures against Russian oil companies to be counterproductive. At the same time, she stressed that the new sanctions would not create significant problems for Russia.

The head of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, in turn, stated the need to increase pressure on Russia to force the country to negotiate a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. Von der Leyen stressed that coordinated anti-Russian sanctions allegedly play a "key role" in putting pressure on Moscow.

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