You know, the Ruble is worthless.
Their GDP shrinking.
They can't sell their oil, gas and coal.
Inflation is through the roof.
The shelves are empty.
But now we are starting to hear it isn't so? How can that be?
She and the NYT's must be Putin puppets and this is Russian propaganda.
Worst thing in this policy is to fire and miss.
A surge in trade by Russia’s neighbors and allies hints at one reason its economy remains so resilient after sweeping sanctions, “The New York Times” recognizes.
Some companies, including H&M, IBM, Volkswagen and Maersk, halted operations in Russia, citing moral and logistical reasons. But the Russian economy has proved surprisingly resilient, raising questions about the efficacy of the West’s sanctions.
Countries have had difficulty reducing their reliance on Russia for energy and other basic commodities, and the Russian central bank has managed to prop up the value of the ruble and keep financial markets stable.
The International Monetary Fund said it now expected the Russian economy to grow 0.3 percent this year, a sharp improvement from its previous estimate of a 2.3 percent contraction.
The I.M.F. also said it expected Russian crude oil export volume to stay relatively strong under the current price cap, and Russian trade to continue being redirected to countries that had not imposed sanctions.
Matthew Klein, an economics writer and a co-author of “Trade Wars Are Class Wars,” is one of the people drawing conclusions about this Russia-size hole in the global economy. According to his calculations, the value of global exports to Russia in November was just 15 percent below a monthly preinvasion average. Global exports to Russia most likely fully recovered in December, though many countries have not yet issued their trade data for the month, he said. “Most of that recovery has been driven overall by China and Turkey particularly,” Mr. Klein said.
‘Silverado Policy Accelerator’, a Washington nonprofit, recently issued a similar analysis, estimating that the value of Russian imports from the rest of the world had exceeded prewar levels by September. Andrew S. David, the senior director of research and analysis at Silverado, said the trends reflected how supply chains had shifted to continue providing Russia with goods.
Samsung and Apple, previously major suppliers of Russian cellphones, pulled out of the Russian market after the invasion. Exports of popular Chinese phone brands, like Xiaomi, Realme and Honor, also initially dipped as companies struggled to understand and cope with new restrictions on sending technology or making international payments to Russia.
But after an “adjustment period,” Chinese brands started to take off in Russia, Mr. David said. Overall Chinese exports to Russia reached a record high in December, helping to offset a steep drop in trade with Europe. Apple and Samsung phones also appeared to begin to find their way back to Russia, rerouted through friendly neighboring countries.
Shipments to Russia of other products, like passenger vehicles, have also rebounded. And China has increased exports of semiconductors to Russia, though Russia’s total chip imports remain below prewar levels.
One major open question is how effectively the Western price cap will hold down Russia’s oil revenue this year. The cap allows Russia to sell its oil globally using Western maritime insurance and financing as long as the price does not exceed $60 per barrel.
That limit, which is essentially an exception to Group of 7 sanctions, is designed to keep oil flowing on global markets while limiting the Russian government’s revenue from it. But some analysts have suggested that Russia is finding ways around the effort by using ships that do not rely on Western insurance or financing.
“If that fleet is big enough for Russia to really operate outside the reach” of the Group of 7 countries, the cap probably “won’t have the kind of leverage that policymakers wanted,” Mr. Cahill said.
The sanctions have been a joke from day 1. Russia made $10 Billion a month more from its energy exports alone in 2022 compared to 2021. They are profiting big time from this foolishness.
The Republican neocons had such great hopes for an Ukraine-Russia conflict that the snakes participated in the coup against President Trump to get Biden into office. What a bunch of treacherous losers.
Our neighbor, an army Senior master sergeant has a Russian bride that he met while he was in Japan. She speaks several languages fluently and was working as a translator for the UN when he met her. When he was deployed abroad for several months in 2022, she and their cute little girl went to Russia and stayed with her parents for several months. When she got back they came over to visit with us and she was texting to her mother. She said that that life was going on completely as normal where her parents live.
Imagine that? The NY Times lied to us.
Those are some major economies, but many poorer nations in Africa, South America, and southeast Asia also continue to trade with Russia.
Increasingly, nations are putting their own interests first, instead of following the America Empire.
A far cry from the first Bush's vast "Coalition of the Willing" during the Gulf War, back when the declared a "New World Order."
Russia needs to sell energy to make money, while paying for all imported goods. Insurers won't insure Russian tankers, ports won't take uninsured ships, countries are buying what they can get at the sanction rate which is close to at cost or lower. No one other than Russia really wants to antagonize the US and Europe too much, a little is going to happen. Smuggling cell phones into Russia will not change the outcome of the war.
Russia is cutting back on energy production this year, which means, cutting back on how much money they can make to fund their war in Ukraine. That was one of the goals of the sanctions.
Hindustan Times
Latin America refuses to back West in Ukraine War
“Latin America has largely refused to back Ukraine and the West in their ongoing war with Russia. In recent weeks, America has offered compelling deals to Latin American nations like Argentina, Brazil and Colombia in order to convince them to send weapons to Ukraine. Their sharp refusals highlight the continent’s strong fierce independence.”
And Putin is obviously paying off the EU’s High Commissioner, Borrell:
The Guardian
2/19/23
Ukraine war ‘over’ unless EU boosts military support, says top diplomat
Foreign affairs chief tells Munich security conference provision of ammunition has to be solved quickly.
The war with Ukraine will be over unless the EU finds a way in weeks to speed up the provision of ammunition to Ukraine, Josep Borrell, the EU foreign affairs chief, warned on the final day of the Munich security conference.
... adding it is taking up to 10 months for European armies to order and receive a single bullet.
...”
More at:
If you’re trying to suggest that we’ve been fed a stream of lies, while I’ve heard that our intents are to destroy their economy, I’ve never heard that it’s working. The GDP is shrinking, but reports have been very consistent in saying that this decline is far from the cataclysm that some had expected or hoped for.
Watching our Neocon Masters continually TRIPPING OVER THEMSELVES trying to punish Russia would be funny as hell, except that they’re also marching us towards a Nuclear War, due to their failure after failure.
Perhaps some countries failed to self assess their power, influence and popularity.
Hubris, we see it on a tiny scale with some here.
Well the US has screwed over 7/8 to the world so why would they Be motivated to help the US keep sanctions on a country that may very well retaliate in the future
Regardless, the sections have been an utter failure. I think the British economy contracted more than the Russia's last year
The US screwed the pooch on this, and inflation is here to stay. For years.
We’re Broke, military depleted, and infrastructure failing left and right.
And Russia is just fine.
Thanks, Neocons! Thanks Nuland!