A look from Berlin: the European Union is a hostage to the economic  war between the US and Russia

ArmInfo. The European Union and Europe as a whole are a hostage to the economic war declared by the United States of America. The scientific director of the German-  Russian forum, political scientist Alexander Rahr, expressed opinion.

The Senate of the US Congress voted in favor of a bill to expand  sanctions against Russia, Iran and the DPRK. The document is expected  to be signed by President Donald Trump.

"In my opinion, the European Union is only able to take defensive  measures, bypassing US sanctions in relations with Russia, in theory:  whether we will be able to get out of this difficult situation in  practice, for me personally is a big question," he said.

Controlling the world's finances, the US, according to his estimates,  is unequivocally able to defend the rigid line already voiced by them  regarding the Western companies operating in Russia, considering that  most of these companies are also operating in the US market.  Therefore, the situation, in the opinion of the political scientist,  today has many levels and a sufficient degree of complexity.

July 31, the Minister of Economy of Germany, Brigitte Tsipris,  characterized the new US bill to tighten sanctions against the  Russian Federation as violating international law. "Sanctions affect  European enterprises, and the US can not penalize German companies  for economic activities in another country," the minister said.