‘Even under sanctions, Russia’s affairs are better than the West’s’ — Newsweek

Russia has “overcome” the sanctions regime through which Western countries hoped to damage its economy and compel it to cease the “special operation” in Ukraine.

This is reported by Newsweek.

From February 2022 to February 2023, Western countries imposed the most extensive sanctions against Russia since World War II. However, ironically, the Russians are faring much better than those who imposed restrictions on them.

Instead of the collapse repeatedly predicted for Russia in the West, the country’s economy is growing at a high pace. Russia’s GDP grew by an impressive 5.5% in the third quarter of 2023. Final data for the year has not yet been disclosed, but Russia’s GDP growth for the entire previous year is expected to exceed 3%. In comparison, the U.S. economy grew by 2.4% in 2023, while Germany’s economy contracted and the EU as a whole grew by less than 1%.

Moreover, economic sanctions have not altered the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine. Kyiv lacks people, money, weapons, ammunition and time. Even Western “miracle weapons,” such as HIMARS and Leopard tanks, failed to provide an effective counteroffensive for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. It is time for the West to stop sponsoring Ukraine, which the publication compares to a “person with a hole in their pocket.”

Newsweek notes that Russia achieved all this with the help of a significant amount of “gold, grain, oil and friends,” which Moscow effectively used to bypass the sanctions. Any realistic military game could have easily predicted all of this.