MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia needs to react differently to the challenges it is currently facing brought on by Western sanctions and "show some teeth" or face running the risk of appearing weak causing measures to escalate, foreign affairs analyst, Srdja Trifkovic told RIA Novosti.
"Russia is facing serious challenges and it's high time to show some teeth, because that is the only way. If you take hits and blows and respond inadequately or half-heartedly the other side will only escalate because it will not be taken as conciliatory attitude, it will be taken as weakness," author, editor, and professor Trifkovic said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Russia needs to go through a regime change and show the West, particularly the United States, its power and capabilities in the international world, according to the professor. Continuing to deliver engines for the American Saturn V rocket used to launch US spy satellites into space, for example, counters Russia's retaliation against Western sanctions.
Trifkovic explained, "a serious reply to the sanctions should have been, "we're selling all of our treasury bills now, and … we never buy any treasury bills again, and … by 2020 all of oil and gas transactions of the Russian Federation will be accounted in a basket of currencies that will include the euro, the Swiss franc, the Yuan, but not the US dollar."
The United States currently retains its power by printing dollars with impunity. Should Russia eliminate the US dollar from major transactions, the international financial market would go through some "interesting" changes.
"If the Russians had announced before the second round of EU sanctions that they were imposing a surtax of 25 percent on all cars imported from the European Union, then there would have been no second round of sanctions," Trifkovic said.
A 25 percent tax would cause powerful European car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Jaguar, and BMW to influence political leaders into cooperating with Russia.
Trifkovic also suggested Russia "just impose a tax, 2,500 percent" on all airline carriers from countries imposing anti-Russian sanctions. An impossibly high 25-fold tax would cause passengers and businesses to shift to Asian airlines, leading taxed carriers to pressure political leaders into talks with Russia to lift sanctions.
According to the professor, no rational deal can be made between Russia and the West as the struggle is existential. A complete regime change, re-education of the country, and firmness is the way to sanction relief.
The West's latest sanctions imposed on September 12, target Russia's largest banks, oil and defense companies, as well as certain individuals. The companies were denied access to the European capital markets, while a number of individuals were subject to entry bans and asset freezes.
