Also, the Dollar and Euro can have effect on the Russian economy and tracked for intelligence only if they are used.
I wonder if this will be considered a great blunder, looking back in few years.
Forcing worlds most energy and minerals rich country doing business with most industry rich country, what could go wrong?
Same way Britain wasn’t shooting itself in the foot blockading Nazi Germany, or the West by refusing to trade with the USSR.
> Forcing worlds most energy and minerals rich country doing business with most industry rich country, what could go wrong?
Post-Soviet Russia as an independent power has been an unmitigated disaster. China is America’s geopolitical rival, but at least it’s rational. Moscow as a Chinese suzerainty is likely a better configuration than it as a sovereign power.
(Also, it’s clear China isn’t willing to let its financial system be sanctioned simply to trade with the likes of Russia.)
With less variety, slower and at higher cost [1]. And they’re not getting much of the high-tech kit [2]. (The Germans also had blockade runners. Everyone does. That doesn’t make a blockade less onerous.)
Russian natural gas sales have also cratered; Beijing is leveraging its position as a monopsony to demand price concessions [3].
[1] https://www.csis.org/analysis/out-stock-assessing-impact-san...
[2] https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/the-impact-of-s...
[3] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-china-gas-pip...
Stuff getting expensive is no different than the west really. Slightly worse living standards can destroy the western democracies as they shift to extremist politics but has no effect on Russian leadership.
You're really not looking closely.
In the beginning they were invading with tanks. Now they send Chinese golf carts and mopeds to the front to power the meat grinder.
They destroyed their veterans in the opening gambit. Mowing down unequipped numpties at staggering loss ratios isn’t a problem for Kyiv so long as its ammunition supplies are assured.
> Russians have criminal level of tolerance for lost lives
Russia is an empire. Moscow isn’t sending its children to the front, it’s sending Siberians and Chechens.
The mobilisation was politically difficult for Putin and damaging to Russia. There aren’t that many more Putin can pull off while retaining the public’s favour.
Russia has a moat here, Ukraine and the West can't pull anything of that sort.
Also, the mentality of Russian people or slavs in general is very prone to conspiratorial thinking. They are also very unambitious, only motivated by ideas about glory and don't make long term life plans and assume the role given to them.
Its very weird, the western mindset can't comprehend this. I've been risen in a slavic communist country that used to be aligned with USSR.
To this day I have relatives who are offended by the west despite living in EU, having their life quality depended on the success of EU but root for Russia to win and "show the arrogant west who's the boss". So I don't think that Putin will have human resources problem ever, as long as maintains his image of the tough guy who teaches the west a lesson. Russophilia is also widespread in many countries, even in EU.
The West is the moat. Ukraine’s war production is almost entirely in the West.
> I have relatives who are offended by the west despite living in EU, having their life quality depended on the success of EU but root for Russia to win and "show the arrogant west who's the boss
Yeah, sort of like the most-fervent proponents of American doomerism frequently being Americans.