US-Russia Tensions Escalate Amid New Round of Sanctions

Russian authorities are reviewing options to supply Crimea with power, including LNG carriers at Crimean ports. In the backdrop, the confrontation between the United States and Russia is escalating, with U.S. President Barack Obama announcing new sanctions against influential Russians to decrease the risk of rebellion in eastern Ukraine.

"One of the options for filling the bag orders of the shipbuilding yards is being developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and it is the possibility of building LNG carriers for shipping liquefied natural gas from the Russian arctic oil fields," the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation wrote in a note.

At the same time, American sanctions suggest that the situation is escalating. More people in the list of figures whose assets are frozen and who are denied visas to travel to the United States are not a good sign. 

Europe could follow in the US’ footsteps. Several reports suggest that Brussels could add other 15 names to its list. In this sense, it seems clear that geopolitical and military tensions keep escalating.