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Will the West be able to bow down Putin?

Ever since Ukraine was invaded by Russian President Putin in February 2022, nearly 50 countries, including the US and its allies, have imposed economic sanctions on Russia. These economic restrictions include provisions to restrict economic transactions, including movement of goods and financial transactions. History is witness that except in some cases, these western countries have been working through these sanctions to cow down the rest of the world. Not only this, US and its allies in the West have been dominating the world even with the threat of these sanctions many times. Even before February 2022, many types of sanctions were being imposed on Russia by the US. But after February 2022 more restrictions have been imposed. US, along with its allies such as the European Union, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, etc., have banned the export of war technology to Russia, as well as banned Russian banks. Not only this, lending to government and non-government institutions of Russia have also been banned. The import of oil and gas from Russia has also been banned, and even Russian ships have been banned from entering US ports. Realizing this, President Putin has said in his recent statement that by imposing sanctions on Russia, European countries are not only sacrificing the welfare of their own citizens, but also endangering the food security of the poor countries of the world. The sanctions on Russia are not only affecting the food supply for poor countries that depend on the rest of the world for food, but rising food prices are also food unaffordable for poor countries.

Significantly, due to US and European sanctions, a large number of American and European companies are deserting Russia. However, Russia has closed the Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany citing technical reasons and due to this European countries are forced to reduce their dependence on Russian gas and oil. But it is also true that due to shortage of oil and essential raw materials, European companies are coming to a standstill and employment in Europe is getting adversely affected. The Ukrainian foreign minister has also said that Russia is ruining the well-being of European households. It is worth noting that global transactions have been done through payment system named 'Swift'. Before the sanctions, payments could not have been imagined without SWIFT. Russia was debarred from this SWIFT system after February 2022. US and its allied nations expected that since Russia would not be able to receive payment for its exports, it would have to bow down to them. But USA and its allies could not succeed in their objective. Instead of decreasing, Russia's exports increased even more. According to the latest information, Russia is going to get 38 percent more receipts this year from oil and gas exports.

It is worth noting that half of Russia's export earnings come from the export of oil and gas. Russia is all set to generate an equivalent of $332.5 billion this year, from oil and gas exports alone, thanks to increased quantity of exports of gas and oil from Russia, as well as rising global oil prices. It can be said that US and its allies couldn't harm Russia through their sanctions.

While Europe is being badly hit, Russia appears stronger than ever. Today America and European countries are going through the danger of severe recession and inflation, and Russia is being cited as one of the main reasons for this. GDP has been constantly decreasing in the US in the last two quarters and the situation in European countries is no different. But it is being said that due to the energy crisis and slowdown in Europe, the picture of recession is now more apparent. While the situation in the US is not the same as that of Europe, over the past two quarters, due to the contraction of GDP, rising inflation (which stood at 8.3 per cent in August 2022) and rising energy prices, in particular, interest rates have been increased by the Federal Reserve. Due to the policy of raising rates, America may also go into the grip of recession. It has to be understood that Europe depends on Russia for more than 25 percent of its oil needs. Last year, 40 percent of Europe's gas supply came from Russia. Now that oil and gas supplies from Russia are getting disrupted due to tensions between Europe and Russia, Europe is about to go into a serious energy crisis. European countries have decided to restart their coal-fired power plants, but it will not be that easy. In such a situation, concerns are also being expressed that for the first time this winter Europe may have difficulty in heating due to the lack of energy. It has to be understood that however, not only America and the countries of Japan, their other allies are also facing sanctions and other consequences of the war. But in the near future, Europe itself is going to have more impact of this crisis. Currencies of the European countries have devalued hugely, inflation is also increasing there and imbalances in the economies are also increasing. This is the first time that countries of the US block are themselves caught in the web of sanctions.

There is a need to establish peace in the world, but for that 'NATO' cannot be allowed to disturb the peace of other countries. Russia's attack on Ukraine is wrong, but the attempt by 'NATO' countries to enter Ukraine is at its core. If Ukraine and 'NATO' countries give up their dogmas, then peace can easily be established and economic crisis can be avoided.

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