US sanctions ban Russian parliamentarian from global conference at UN

Valentina Matvienko is speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council. She is one of seven Russian officials targeted by U.S. sanctions including a travel ban.

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The ban does not actually bar officials from UN events. The pettiness involved in banning Matvienko is evident in that it is possible solely because of the technicality that strictly speaking, the event is not a UN event. The Inter-Parliamentary Union(IPU) that organized the event only has observer status at the UN. Nevertheless the event is held in the UN headquarters. Matvienko would not need to travel outside the UN headquarters while at the event except to travel to and from the airport. The U.S. actually offered Matvienko a visa to go the United Nations but barred her from attending the conference, which is at the UN!

The sanctions were imposed as punishment for the annexation of the Ukraine by Russia. Matvienko was on the agenda to speak at the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, and was still able to give her address by a video link. It is difficult to see what benefit the US gains from the ban. Not only is it bad publicity for the U.S., it may cause future conferences to move outside the U.S. to the Swiss or other European offices of the UN. It also gave Matvienko a platform to denounce the U.S. She told the conference that the U.S. should realize that the days of U.S. superpower domination are over. A speaker from Iran, hardly a country on good terms with the U.S., was able to attend as were speakers from Vietnam and China.

Matvienko said she deeply regretted not being able to attend the conference that involved some 120 countries.Matvienko claimed the U.S. sanctions are illegal and "gross violations of the norms of international laws, and the principles of democracy and freedom of speech" and said: "Sanctions against parliamentarians elected by the citizens of their country because of their political views — and this in the 21st century — is nothing other than political persecution."

Saber Chowdhury, president of the IPU, said she was disappointed that Matvienko had been barred from the conference and said the IPU believed in dialogue "which regardless of differences is fundamental to democracy and international cooperation." John Kirby of the U.S. State Department would not discuss the case but noted that Matvienko remains under U.S. sanctions.

The conference is held only once every five years. This year the conference is discussing UN development goals that will be adopted at a world leaders conference late this month to combat poverty and tackle climate change.

Neither speaker of the US House of Representatives John Boehner, nor Mitch McConnell, majority leader of the US Senate attended the conference. They said they were unable to attend. The 120 countries that did send representatives will hardly have an improved attitude to the U.S., which cannot be bothered to send representatives itself but is anxious to ban a representative who wanted to attend.

China opposes any further US and EU sanctions on Russia

China has been careful in its responses to the Ukrainian situation. While it wants to retain Russia as an ally it is concerned that the Crimea referendum could set a precedent for areas such as Tibet, which is part of China.

The European Union has threatened Russia with further sanctions after Russia was accused of sending troops into Ukraine to help separatists in their battle with Ukrainian forces. There are divisions among European leaders and it is not clear when any further sanctions might come into effect.
Spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Qin Gang, said: "A political solution is the only way out, sanctions do not help to solve the underlying problems in Ukraine. It may lead to new and more complicating factors." China has said also that it respects Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and wants to develop friendly relations with it. In a joint statement released during an official visit of Russian president Vladimir Putin to China both countries rejected the use of sanctions as political tools. As well the two condemned attempts to "encourage and finance" regime change a clear swipe at US actions in Ukraine and elsewhere to ensure election of pro-western regimes in countries around the periphery of Russia.
Sanctions by the west have encouraged Russia to turn east and in particular to grow business and trade with China. The two countries have already signed numerous, energy and business deals. The joint statement promised " a new stage in full-scale partnership and strategic relations". The two countries agreed to coordinate foreign policy where they have common priorities. President Putin said: “We have common priorities on a global and on a regional scale. We’ve agreed upon closer coordination of our foreign policy steps, including those in the UN, BRICS and APEC"
Both countries oppose attempts by the US and EU to impose sanctions. The joint statement said: “The parties stress the necessity to… reject unilateral sanctions rhetoric.Economic restrictions applied as punishment are no better than financial aid to forces that seek “a change in constitutional system of another country,” Russia has accused the US of spending $5 billion to promote regime change in the Ukraine.
 Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament also noted China's objections to sanctions against Russia. She said that both Russia and China believe that the sanctions are an attempt "to exert pressure on sovereign states to change their position and to weaken them and suppress their development." She thanked China for taking a public position in opposition to the western sanctions imposed upon Moscow. She noted also that Moscow and Beijing shared many common positions on a number of global issues.