Despite sanctions pressure from Western countries, Russia has increased the growth of its defence budget, which will allow it to continue its special military operation until at least 2025. This was reported by French newspaper Le Figaro.
According to Le Figaro, Russia was able to adapt to the sanctions of Western countries much easier than expected. In particular, this is due to the growth of the defence budget and the reorientation of trade flows to China, Turkey and the Persian Gulf countries.
An analysis by the Franco-Russian Research Centre showed that Russia will be able to continue the special military operation in Ukraine until at least 2025.
The newspaper notes that Russia has benefited from the rise in hydrocarbon prices. And the West, in its turn, is not ready to threaten India and China with sanctions for buying Russian oil more expensive than the “price ceiling” set by the EU.
We would like to remind you that according to China’s General Customs Administration, in the first three quarters of 2023 trade turnover between Russia and China grew by 29.5% to a record $176.5bn. During the reporting period, China imported $81.4bn worth of goods into Russia, showing a 56.9% growth. Supplies from Russia to China over the same period totalled about $94.9bn, showing an increase of 12.7%. Thus, the trade balance remains in Russia’s favour.