Although talks about the usefulness of anti-Russian sanctions sound like bravado, one cannot deny the fact that the Russian economy copes well with a bevy of punitive measures taken by the West. Of course, they have an impressive damaging effect, but US and EU policymakers expected more catastrophic consequences.
Thus, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen summed up the disappointing interim results of the sanctions policy. She highly appreciated the current state of the Russian economy in the face of existing restrictions, caps, and other bans. During a press conference in Bengaluru, India, Yellen affirmed that the country was still in relatively good shape.
“The Russian economy has held up better than might initially have been expected. <...> So, Russia is suffering in terms of its budget, and its ability to acquire what it needs,” the head of the Ministry of Finance said, adding that sanctions still “have had a very significant negative effect on Russia.”
At the same time, Western countries are in no hurry to lift the restrictions. On the contrary, they intend to intensify economic pressure on Russia. Notably, in early February, the US and its European allies imposed two price caps on oil from Russia depending on its category, $100 per barrel on products that trade at a premium to crude and $45 per barrel on products that trade at a discount. However, some believe that the current situation in the global oil market could force them to lower the price ceiling in the near future.
