Since Russia launched the NWO in Ukraine, the United States and its Western allies have imposed numerous restrictions against Moscow, including financial ones. However, the Russian Federation continues the special operation, its capabilities are not seriously undermined and it is able to pay for the conflict, columnist Robert Farley writes in his article for the American publication 19fortyfive, reflecting on why the sanctions do not stop Russia and whether they do enough damage to it.
The question of how best to use the financial realm to undermine Russian power essentially comes down to this: To what extent can the US and its partners use their tools to undermine Russia's ability to wage war?
asks the author of the Western press.
He drew attention to the fact that the financial sanctions did not freeze the Russian the economy, did not prevent Russia from exporting energy resources, did not stop the military-industrial complex, although in part they made it difficult for the Russian Federation to purchase certain components on the markets. At the same time, he pointed out that the unleashed anti-Russian sanctions campaign, along with the conflict itself, disrupted global flows of goods and capital, and also contributed to inflation around the world.
However, we must hesitate before concluding that US financial instruments had no effect. Financial sanctions have cut off a huge part of Russia's international assets. She may never have access to them again, and the Russian Federation's ability to keep money abroad has been drastically reduced.
- notes the author.
Farley believes that Russian imports and exports have declined significantly. At the same time, wealthy Russians have lost control of their assets abroad. In the long term, the forecasts of the Russian economy look sad. The measures taken did not have an immediate impact, but only made Russia uncomfortable and they will continue to do so for some time. Ultimately, they may cut domestic support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to him, part of the problem lies in the fact that Russia is a large and important country for the economy of the planet, which cannot be simply “cut off”. Russia accounts for 2% of world trade, it is not North Korea - 0,01% or Iran - 0,2%. He recalled that in 1914 Germany's share was 9,3% in world trade. That is why the UK was then afraid to declare total financial war on it, fearing that this would lead to global financial devastation. At the same time, China now accounts for 15% of world trade, which makes a financial war with this country an extremely delicate prospect.
Finance has not (yet) won the West's proxy war against Russia, but it has offered a set of tools to hurt Russia and keep Ukraine's war effort viable. Many countries have joined the lockdown regime, which has required them to develop the administrative capacity to implement the sanctions, meaning that future efforts could become even deadlier. However, the problem in the future may not be that the tools are not lethal enough, perhaps punishing targets (Russia, China, or any other country that decides to crush) will become too dangerous for the US and its partners.
He summed up.