What sanctions can be imposed on Russia?

These sanctions would be the West’s first revenge against Russia in the event of an invasion, and the only thing that is certain; Both US President Joe Biden and most of the leaders have stated that if Russia enters Ukraine, the sanctions will be severe and swift. More or less, all Western countries are preparing more drastic measures, such as sending weapons and vehicles to the Ukrainian army, while regarding the sending of military troops, there is a lot of caution, but above all uncertainty.

American analysts think that the sanctions imposed on Russia should be so severe as to directly affect the lives of the Russian population.

“How can Putin’s accounts be changed? Creating internal concerns and creating dissatisfaction with governance in the population. People should be dissatisfied with the policies pursued by Putin“Said Edward Fishman, one of the leading Russian experts on the State Department under Barack Obama.

At the same time, however, European countries in particular are concerned about the consequences that such harsh sanctions could have on them. The Russian economy is highly integrated with the world economy and many Western companies have broad interests in the country, which would risk being harmed. Moreover, the whole of Europe depends on Russian gas exports, and a blow to the energy sector could make hydrocarbon supplies even more problematic.

The sanctions imposed by Western countries vary greatly in severity and impact, they can isolate the Russian economy from the rest of the world, which, would also have serious consequences for the economy of the United States and especially Europe.

According to Bloomberg, the final sanctions may require a middle ground, limiting the Russian state’s ability to finance its debt in international markets, but will also aim to affect regime-linked individuals and businesses.

Among other things, sanctions could prevent some Russian banks from conducting international transactions in dollars, the most popular currency for financial transactions, which would in fact make it very difficult to operate abroad. A group of Russian banks may also face restrictions in international markets and their assets in foreign countries may be confiscated.

The crackdown on Russian banks could have a serious effect, as it would make it difficult to finance economic activity and could ultimately cause an economic slowdown, with consequences for the population as well.

Individual sanctions can be envisaged against persons associated with the Russian regime. The AP speculated that they could target, for example, CEOs of state-owned oil and gas companies Rosneft and Gazprom. Restrictions on exports of strategic goods and technologies are also possible.

The United States and Europe have other opportunities to hit the Russian economy, which will probably not be implemented because they would have very serious consequences. For example, they may exclude Russian banks from SWIFT, a system of communication between world banks, without which, in fact, it is virtually impossible to conduct international transactions.

In 2014, the then Russian Minister of Finance, Alexei Kudrin, estimated that without SWIFT, the Russian economy would have shrunk by 5% within a year. Another possible move is to prevent Russia from conducting transactions in dollars, by imposing fines on all international entities that trade in dollars with Russia.

This, too, would be considered a catastrophe for the economy, as it would severely restrict Russian companies from buying and selling, as all gas and oil supply contracts are in dollars. Such drastic measures have not yet been formally ruled out during the negotiations between the United States and Europe, but they nevertheless remain impossible to implement, especially given the serious consequences that would be caused to the world economy.

top channel