One of the features of these latest sanctions is the adverse effect they could have on Russian companies' access to Western capital markets, given the dollar's global role. Reuters reports:
The chief executive of Russia's VTB bank said on Thursday new U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis were inappropriate and warned of potentially devastating consequences for the global financial system.
"Of course, these sanctions are inappropriate and of course they do not correspond to the spirit or the legal standards of existing international relations, in particular in the field of finance and banking," Andrei Kostin, whose bank is Russia's second largest, was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.
"I believe that if we do not take measures to stop such unilateral actions, we could see devastating consequences for the global financial system."
Not sure "plummets" is the right word, but the message is clear.
White House video of U.S. President Barack Obama announcing the new sanctions:
Big news, if corroborated.
Pro-Kyiv military blogger Dmitry Tymchuk says there was no letup in fighting overnight and cites the "terrorists'" use of drones minutes ahead of an attack on a checkpoint.
Putin via Interfax:
"In fact, I would like to say that those in the United States who are behind foreign policy actions have unfortunately been holding a rather aggressive foreign policy for the past ten to fifteen years and, in my opinion, [this policy] is rather unprofessional. So, no matter what they do, they always have problems," he told reporters on Thursday.
He cited situations in various countries as examples.
"There are problems in Afghanistan, Iraq is breaking up and Libya is breaking up, and if Gen. El-Sisi had not taken control of Egypt, Egypt might be a complete mess now. They touched Ukraine and it had problems, as well," Putin said.