The Sanction Imposed on Russia is Turning Out to be Shambolic and Duplicitous!

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  • The Russian invasion of Ukraine lingers on with no signs of abating in the foreseeable future. Innocent lives and infrastructural properties are getting destroyed courtesy of a meaningless aggressiveness that seems to benefit no one.  As the Indian Prime Minister rightly mentioned, there is no real winner in any war, and it holds true without any questions.  The entire global community is reeling from the cascading effects of the war having precipitously disrupted the supply chains across the spectrum.  Some of the countries led by the United States of America kept warning Moscow from going ahead with the misadventure by threatening to impose stifling sanctions and other measures.

PC: CBS News

  • But what eventually turned out on the ground is quite contrary to the expectations. As things stand now, three months into Western sanctions against Russia, two outcomes are apparent.  Initial expectations of the US and EU were over the top.  In addition, it’s getting harder for the EU to keep its own flock together in its aim to cripple Russia’s energy sector.  For example, EU leaders last week agreed after protracted negotiations to stop imports of Russian crude by the end of 2022.  However, they were forced to exempt Hungary from it.  Moreover, even Bulgaria’s timeline is likely to be extended.  And as for Russian gas, there’s no deadline at all.
  • The moot point to ponder over here is whether such grandiose proclamations and intimidating announcements worked on the ground. The reality is entirely different.  Looking back, it is amply evident why Western sanctions and the subsequent sermonizing aimed at countries such as India were unwise.  Let’s start with Iran, a country subject to US sanctions soon after the Islamic Revolution in 1979.  Now into its fifth decade, the conversation is still about changing Iran’s behavior.  Nonetheless, sanctions imposed by the world’s largest economy curtail the potential of the victim.  But evidence shows that it doesn’t achieve its core aim.

PC: Radio Farda

  • The IEA data showed that even in March, Russia remained the OPEC+ grouping’s second-largest crude oil supplier with 9.10 million barrels a day. A look at the predicament of Germany, the EU’s economic powerhouse, provides insight on this issue.  Mind you, Russia is the source of about 55% of Germany’s natural gas, which is harder to substitute than oil.  Note that the outcome of an immediate halt of Russian energy imports would shrink the German economy by 2% as per the Bundesbank estimate.  Of course, there’s no case to support Russian actions in Ukraine.  As such, the Western response smacks both double standards and unsophistication.
  • Look not far that the exemptions within its ranks and growing cases of sanctions bypass.  Thus, India was right to say, more than once, that Western lectures on buying Russian Oil don’t square with Western purchase of Russian gas.  Rather than exhibit shambolic and duplicitous indulgences vis-à-vis sanctions, the Western countries should attempt to come out with more meaningful as well as workable pressure-building tactics to pin down Moscow.