JRL NEWSWATCH: “How to make the sanctions on Russia really hurt” – Washington Post

Cash, Calculator, Pen

“Sanctions have squeezed the economy undergirding Putin’s war in Ukraine. The West can tighten the screws more, especially on Moscow’s energy revenue.”

“… [S]anctions are draining Russian state revenue and shaking the country’s financial underpinnings, gradually isolating Moscow from the global financial system. But they have not sapped [the Russian Federation’s] will or capacity to fight — or triggered the Russian economic collapse that some expected. … The West would be wise to turn up the heat on banks, including ones in the West, that handle Russian energy earnings. … includ[ing] Gazprombank and its [Luxembourg] subsidiary[,] … principal channel for ongoing European payments for Russian natural gas …. The United States and … allies can also expand individual sanctions against Russian oligarchs … The broader question of whether to seize some $300 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets in Western and Japanese banks to eventually rebuild Ukraine is trickier. … Russia should be made to pay the lion’s share of the hundreds of billions of dollars … required for Ukraine’s reconstruction. But seizing central bank funds could damage the international financial system …. The E.U. established a working group to study the question …. A smart first step … would be to cast a more transparent light on the assets themselves — where they are held, and in what form and quantities. …”

Click here for: “How to make the sanctions on Russia really hurt; Sanctions have squeezed the economy undergirding Putin’s war in Ukraine. The West can tighten the screws more, especially on Moscow’s energy revenue.” – Washington Post

   

 

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