According to the expert, a new bill on sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea will be signed by US President Donald Trump.
"Not signing, or vetoing this bill means seriously to leave himself wide open, and even twice. First, the veto will be overcome in the presence of bipartisan consensus and such indicators of voting, and this would be a shame for the president, and second, this will once again confirm that Russian trail in Trump's latest biography is very powerful. It will intensify the process of investigations against Trump and his team in Russia's dossier", the expert said.
He recalled that this bill deals with sanctions against Russia, Iran and the DPRK. Thus, D. Trump, who called that North Korea through its nuclear program and Iran through a missile and nuclear program posing a global threat, imposing a veto on the adopted law, would actually demonstrate its inconsistency and simply discredit himself, he said.
"Therefore, I think he has no chance but to sign this bill", - Gonchar said.
Despite all media-bureaucratic opposition of Europe to American sanctions, globally, they will not affect US relations with those European countries that oppose imposition of sanctions by America, the expert said.
"Here, we must talk rather not about the European-American confrontation, because the projects with Russia, which suit Germany, Austria and France, are not the same as relations at the EU-US level. The EU is not limited to these three countries, whose companies participate in the "Nord Stream-2" project. Now we are seeing a unique phenomenon, when, as a matter of fact, Berlin, Vienna and Paris through Brussels, through the euro-bureaucracy, which is controlled mainly by these three, simply voice their position presenting it as the European one", he said.
At the same time, M. Gonchar added that "Washington is well aware of it".
"Therefore, in principle, the United States will find many arguments to persuade Europeans not to do nonsense. But what is happening right now is music to Kremlin's ears, when the Kremlin sees that regardless of whether "Nord Stream-2" is realized, there is a split of European position both within Europe itself and in the transatlantic format between the United States and Europe. And not US sanctions are the reason for that", he noted.
"The reason lies in the policies of, at least, Germany, Austria and France, which rooted in not always transparent deals with Russia; and Russia is using it and operating through mechanisms of gas corruption to achieve its goal - the split of the European community and transatlantic solidarity", the expert said.
M. Gonchar believes that Brussels's argument that sanctions are harmful to energy security of Europe is a complete absurdity - just the "Nord Stream 2" project will harm its energy security.
"American sanctions are a mirror that showed the crooked face of the Brussels bureaucracy. I emphasize, the Brussels bureaucracy, but not the whole EU, which, in fact, can lead to tectonic implications for the EU unity, which, by their scale, may outmatch Brexit. Because, for example, the position of Poland and Lithuania will remain unchanged with regard to the "Nord Stream 2" and this position is clearly in favor of sanctions against Russia", the expert said.
M. Gonchar believes that American sanctions, unlike the European ones, will eventually stop Russia.
According to him, the recent strengthened EU sanctions are insufficient, because instead of the blacklist companies, new ones can be created, and people who are subject to sanctions instead of service or diplomatic passports will use ordinary ones to visit the EU.
"In the United States it has long been understood; in Europe, they do not want to understand and see this. Because you need to change then the "as usual" business with Russia into "peace enforcement" formula for Russia. And this is possible only through hits to the pain points of Russia. Such major pain point of the Russian Federation is the export of Russian energy resources to Europe. And just for these funds, Russia is waging war against Ukraine and carrying out subversive activities against Europe, that is, using those oil and gas dollars that the Kremlin receives from the sale of energy resources to Europe", M. Honchar said.
"Americans are very cautious - they hit a project that is not yet exist and for Europe there would be no problem to add this project ("Nord Stream 2 "- ed.) to the sanction list, but Europe does not do this. This suggests that the level of gas corruption in Europe has reached excessive heights", he added.
