REUTERS

"It will be important for the United States and the European Union to maintain economic sanctions against Russia, and to be ready to intensify these sanctions if the east of Ukraine faces new military actions, or if Russia does not fulfill its part of the implementation of the Minsk agreements," Pifer said.

According to Pifer, Western economic sanctions are already having a significant impact on the Russian economy.

"[The sanctions] have not yet achieved the political goal of changing Russian policy, but as long as the sanctions continue to be in effect, the economic price for Russia will grow," he said. 

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