It appears the Russian rhetoric may be working…
As the military conflict in Ukraine enters its second year, Washington has decided to add more Anti-Russian penalties targeting dozens of companies and individuals linked to the county and raising tariffs on Russian goods whose imports are still allowed. Meanwhile, the European Union has approved its tenth package of sanctions against Russia, which includes export limitations on dual-use items and technology, measures against so-called Russian disinformation, and new restrictions against individuals and entities for their alleged support of the Russian military.
Western allies Britain, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand joined the measures. The GDP of Russia is down just 2.1 percent, which is much less than the 10 to 15 percent some had predicted after the sanctions took effect last March. In fact, the Russian economy is actually forecast to increase by point 3 percent during the current year, according to the international monetary fund.
There are countries in the world that were sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Asset control decades ago, and they are still sanctioned to this day. Sanctions rarely affect any nation’s economy and they never have stopped a war. What sanctions actually do is increase the number of black-market goods in the world. Russia is still selling oil, and so is Sudan. Black market goods often sell for much lower prices than the standard market price.
There were many black-market trading platforms such as BlackRock’s Aladdin system, Black Sun’s TransUnion platform, and the Global Treasuries System. However, these platforms no longer exist, so one has to wonder just what they are gaining from sanctions.
