Moody's named three potential sanctions measures against Russia

Tensions in relations between Russia and Ukraine will not result in a direct military conflict, since in this case Russia will incur huge military and economic costs, follows from the report of the international rating agency Moody's Investors Service. “Our baseline is that heightened tensions will continue, but will not lead to direct military conflict,” says Moody’s “Frequently Asked Questions about Tensions and Conflict Between Russia and Ukraine,” dated February 8 (available to RBC) .

"Russia's military intervention would be a significant credit-negative event and would likely force us to immediately place Russia's sovereign ratings on a downgrade list," Moody's added, pointing out that this was not a baseline scenario.

Russia now has an investment-grade sovereign rating from Moody's (Baa3) with a stable outlook, the agency raised it to this level in February 2019.

Any attack on Ukraine (Moscow has repeatedly denied such intentions) will lead to new Western sanctions against Russia, the rating agency is sure. Moody's considered in detail the potential consequences for Russia from three US sanctions: sanctions on the secondary market for government debt, restrictions on the access of Russian banks to international payment systems, and the inclusion of Russian financial institutions in the SDN sanctions list.