The sanctions levied against Russia by the collective West have essentially failed. There is inconvenience within Russia amid ordinary citizens for global and economic transactions, but most of the govt transactions have continued.
On the opposite side of the consequence coin, absent the ability to purchase consumer goods on the global market, Russian domestic consumer independence has grown dramatically. There is more stuff being made and created inside Russia, for Russians to purchase, than ever before.
I cannot see how the Russian GDP doesn’t benefit from this in the long-term.
Then again, I don’t buy the official Western narrative about the “horrible” life inside Russia, because I talk to ordinary middle class Russians who seem to have found a way to organize life without too much disturbance.
Russia is actually a case study in the elimination of imports and the economic outcomes therein.
It doesn’t suck to be a consumer; average Russians are doing fine, and it seems to get better over time. Ironically, give them a few more years of Western sanctions, and Russia could be a manufacturing powerhouse. Russia is a big country with a lot of raw material resources.
UNITED NATIONS, July 12 (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he extend a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of grain from Ukraine in return for connecting a subsidiary of Russia’s agricultural bank to the SWIFT international payment system, sources told Reuters.
Russia has threatened to ditch the grain deal, which expires on Monday, because several demands to dispatch its own grain and fertilizer abroad have not been met. The last two ships traveling under the Black Sea agreement are currently loading cargoes at the Ukrainian port of Odesa ahead of the deadline.
A key demand by Moscow is the reconnection of the Russian agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT international payment network. It was cut off by the European Union in June 2022 over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. An EU spokesperson said in May the EU was not considering reinstating Russian banks.
However, the EU is considering connecting to SWIFT a subsidiary of Rosselkhozbank to allow specifically for grain and fertilizer transactions, three sources familiar with discussions told Reuters on Wednesday. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (read more)
Zelenskyy is the Bud Light of the NATO summit. 
