—These sanctions have hurt us too.
—They have arguably hurt our European allies more than the Russians!
The Russians have been also impacted, but far - far less than some had hoped for and predicted. They have something which others need, not want, but need: oil and gas. Most of what the Russians lost in gas and oil sales to the West or those aligned with us, they have made up by increases in sales to India and China, which have masterfully used this crisis to their advantage and set in place long term low cost oil and gas deals with Russia.
Sanctions like these in place follow the following logic: I’m going to hurt myself also, but hopefully much less than the other guy who will bleed out before me. They are inherently a lose - lose situation.
For someone that thinks like Trump, growth oriented, sanctions are inherently a bad thing. They may be a necessary evil, but they are not desired.
Russia is also a massive grain and other agricultural producer/exporter. It is essentially the bread basket of the Eastern Hemisphere.
Russia has benefited from the sanctions.
Russia's first quarter GDP was 5.4%>
Oil sells itself and there are no shortages of buyers for it. The stupid Europeans are still getting more than half of their oil from Russia via third parties and paying more of it.
Most importantly, the sanction war forced rich Russian oligarchs to keep their money within Russia.
It's past time to stop defending failed, Biden regime policies.