Western Sanctions Against Russia Have Failed, and We’re All Paying for It

Putin called sanctions a failure.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the Western sanctions that were intended to punish Moscow into submission and end its war with Ukraine have failed and, instead, hurt the very countries who imposed them.

Putin used a televised address to tell Russians the sanctions were “expected to quickly upset the financial-economic situation, provoke panic in the markets, the collapse of the banking system and shortages in stores.” But said the West’s “economic blitz” failed and backfired. He said they instead led to a “deterioration of the economy in the West.”

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Last month, President Joe Biden told reporters that the sanctions imposed on Russia were not intended to prevent the 24 February invasion, but were intended instead to unite Europe and show its resolve.

PUTIN EXPRESSED INTEREST IN JOINING NATO IN 2000

“That's the important thing. If you're Putin and you think that Europe is going to crack in a month or six weeks or two months, [that] they can take anything for another month…We have to stay fully, totally, thoroughly united," he said.

When the White House announced a ban on Russian oil imports, oil prices in the U.S. hit their highest levels since 2008.

Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa

Continued dialogue with President 🇱🇹 @GitanasNauseda. Informed about the situation on the frontline, the heroic defense of Mariupol. Thanked for the security support. We expect its increase within 🇪🇺. We need to raise the price of aggression for Russia, to strengthen sanctions.

TREND FORECAST: How will Russia fight against the sanctions being imposed upon it and the scores of businesses and financial institutions leaving the nation? Russia has bolstered itself over a long period of time—even prior to the Ukraine War—in preparation for the assault by creating as much of a self-sufficient economy as possible, in line with our Top 2022 Trend of self-sufficiency.

Max💙🇸🇻 @maxkeiser

The more they sanction the higher oil price goes the stronger Russia gets. Here’s a chart of Russia’s current account balance hitting another new all time high.

The Russian central bank on Monday announced that consumer prices were about 16.7 percent higher than the same time period last year. The New York Times, citing international financial organizations, reported that economists believe that the Russian economy will contract up to 15 percent.

Biden, who has called Putin a war criminal, killer, and a brute, has discussed additional sanctions against Russia with European allies on Tuesday, Reuters reported. They also discusses arming Ukrainians with even more weapons. Canada announced Tuesday a new round of sanctions against Russians, including Putin’s two adult daughters, the report said.

The repot said: “Among those on the call were Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as well as the leaders of Poland, Japan and Italy.”

There has been no talk of peace, only war.

Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen

World leaders firmly stand together in support of Ukraine. We will further tighten our sanctions against Russia and step up financial and security assistance for Ukraine. Thank you @POTUS for convening this important call. We #StandwithUkraine

TREND FORECAST: Before the Ukraine War began, Inflation cost the average U.S. household an additional $296 per month. To make a bad situation worse, the U.S./NATO sanctions against Russia will do nothing to stop the Ukraine war. 

Yes, the economy will get worse. Dragflation: Economies will drag down as inflation spikes higher. Again, the facts are prevalent and cannot be denied. The sanctions placed on Russia have increased the already increasing inflation rates. 

The word on the Street is two, back-to-back .50 percent rate increases followed by .25 percent increases to bring the Fed rate to 3 percent by year's end.

The higher rates go, the more it will cost to service debt for both the U.S. government—which has a debt to GDP ratio of more than 100 percent—and businesses and individuals.

Therefore, we maintain our forecast that should interest rates hit 3 percent this year, equity markets will sink deep into bear territory (down 20 percent and more) and the nation will sink into Dragflation: Negative economic growth and soaring inflation.

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