Another German journalist acknowledged that the West had not yet managed to inflict sufficient hardship on Russians.
Stung by Western sanctions, Russia was supposed to devolve into an extremely fragile economy and suffer devastating economic losses. However, its economic indicators, financial reports, and GDP figures show that the Russian financial system remains functional, the journalist at Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten noted. Moreover, the ruble has surged to a 7-year high against the euro. At the same time, many Western analysts expected the Russian currency to collapse and the national economy to plunge into recession. These projections proved to be wrong, the reporter summed up.
Russia has so far shown resilience in the face of enormous economic pressure from the United States, European Union, and other allies. Moscow is still making billions of dollars on sales of natural resources, while Europe cannot completely abandon Russian energy imports, unlike the Group of Seven nations. In addition, the country has offset most of its sales losses thanks to India and China. Russian President Vladimir Putin has described sanctions aimed at punishing Russia as exclusively beneficial, while noting that they should be lifted.
