Seven years under sanctions: Washington’s goals have not been achieved, Europe suffers losses, the Russian economy stabilizes – 2024-04-30 10:24:10

/ world today news/ Since 2014, Russian and American diplomacy has been driven by economic sanctions. There is a feeling that economic restrictions have become a natural way of communication between American politicians and Moscow. However, as practice shows, such “communication” cannot achieve the goal pursued by the US. On the contrary, both Washington, Brussels and Moscow suffer from the ambitious plans of the US to become the “single and most influential” world power.

We remind you that the most large-scale sanctions from Western countries were caused by the annexation of Crimea and the conflict events in Eastern Ukraine. If in the first case the persons on the list are necessarily somehow related to the “annexation and/or integration of Crimea”, then in the case of the “Eastern Ukrainian” sanctions there may be no connection with the events in Donetsk and Luhansk – state companies are punished simply because they are state companies , and the “oligarchs” and for the most distant connection with the regime.

Almost seven years later, the US has failed to understand that sanctions work on highly dependent countries. Russia is an independent country and has also become economically autonomous as a result of US sanctions. Russia’s domestic industry has flourished since the restrictions were imposed.

At the same time, however, EU countries suffered colossal losses. According to data provided by the Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and Industry, anti-Russian sanctions cost Europe 21 billion euros each year. Analysts are confident that the restrictive regime imposed by Washington is “unfavorable to all players.”

The principle by which projects are selected, which may fall under the anti-Russian sanctions, is also very interesting. For example, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which aims to preserve Europe’s energy security, has become a source of tension between the US and Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly said that the German economy depends on Russian energy resources. Nord Stream 2 has become the only viable option since Ukrainian pipelines became a means of extorting Russia from Ukraine.

In the competition with Russia for the right to provide gas to Europe, Washington forgot about the oil trade between the Netherlands and Russia. Let us emphasize that the West is not putting pressure on this agreement. Between Amsterdam and Moscow there is practically no difference in the dollar value of Russian exports of various petroleum products. Over the past decade, it has held an average of about $33 billion.

Experts note that over the past seven years, Russia has proven its high resilience. It should not be said that the sanctions did not affect the Russian economy. However, the Russian economy is growing and is proving to be isolated and resistant to increased trade barriers.

Translation: V. Sergeev