Russians stand strong against sanctions

"The EU may be forced into a position where it has to apply broader sanctions, for example, to shut Russian banks out," said Ian Bond of the CER. He added that at that point support for President Putin, which is currently high among the general Russian population, could begin to wane. He said: "Whether Putin's popularity would be affected depends on how effective his propaganda operation is. So far it seems to be working well, his popularity in Russia seems to have risen since the takeover of Crimea, and a lot of people seem to be swallowing the fairytale that the new Ukrainian government is full of fascists and anti-Semites."