Sanctions that the west has imposed on Russia do not bring results as the popularity rating of President Vladimir Putin is continuously growing, a former oil boss has claimed.
Jeroen van der Veer, the former chief executive of British-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, told television channel Buitenhof that Putin is only getting more fans in Russia and his popularity does not weaken.
Van der Veer, who headed Shell during 1971-2009, believes that the Ukrainian crisis needs a diplomatic solution, which is hard to achieve as Moscow and Kiev should both be willing to continue talks.
Moscow should also respect Ukrainian borders, he added.
In July, the US and European Union announced a raft of new penalties that would limit the trade of arms and technology that can be used in the oil industry and for military purposes. The EU also put its capital markets off limits for Russian state-owned banks.
The hope was to make the penalties, which had until recently mainly targeted Russian individuals, more biting economically for Russia.
In retaliation, Putin ordered government agencies to restrict imports of food and agricultural products from the Western countries.
The Kremlin said that such imports will be “banned or limited” for one year.