The National Interest: Russia reaches record surplus under sanctions

The National Interest: Despite repeated assurances from Biden and other Western leaders that the toughest economic sanctions in history will cripple Russia’s economy and starve its war machine, this has not happened.

Source: Yandex Zen

Europe faces challenges in covering its energy needs, leading to rising inflation, says Alvaro Vargas Llosa, an analyst at the Independent Institute think tank

Sanctions imposed by Western countries against Moscow are doing more damage to the West itself, while the Russian economy is showing record performance. Such an assessment is given in an article by Alvaro Vargas Llosa, an expert at the American think tank Independent Institute, published on Sunday in The National Interest.

“Despite repeated assurances by President [US Joe] Biden and other Western leaders that “the toughest economic sanctions in history” will hit the Russian economy and drain the resources of its military machine, this did not happen,” the political commentator said.

So, he drew attention to the fact that the current account surplus of Russia’s balance of payments in the second quarter of 2022, according to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, rose to a record $70.1 billion.

“The ruble has also demonstrated amazing resilience, taking the place of the most strongly strengthened currency in the ratings this year,” Vargas Llosa emphasized.

According to him, this is due, among other things, to “high commodity prices and the fact that Russia continues to be able to export oil, gas, grain and even gold to non-Western countries.”

“The economic picture in countries that impose sanctions against Russia is not so rosy. Europe is facing challenges in covering its energy needs, which is driving up inflation and forcing the countries that led the green economy movement to backtrack,” the expert noted.

In his opinion, one gets the impression that the economic response to the Russian special operation in Ukraine is causing more damage to the rest of the world, and not to Russia itself.

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