Western sanctions against Russia have made life more difficult, but have not stopped its ability to finance war, as they do not cut off main source – flow of currency into Russia, - The New York Times
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, a record number of international sanctions have been imposed on Russia. Despite this, the aggressor country still conducts active foreign trade worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in the material of The New York Times.
Since 2022, the United States has added more than 6,000 people and companies associated with the war against Ukraine to sanctions lists. But most of them are individuals or small "pads". Less than 30 are large foreign companies, and only five of them operate in the financial sector.
The world's largest fines for sanctions violations over the past decade have mostly involved banks. But only two cases were directly related to Russia. One of them was against Binance, a crypto exchange that facilitated financial flows not only to Moscow but also to Iran, North Korea, and Syria.
Due to the break with the West, Russia has strengthened its economic ties with India and China. Chinese banks have become virtually "unsanctionable": imposing sanctions on them would paralyse global trade, causing a shortage of goods and a spike in prices in the US and EU.
According to experts, these risks are the reason why Washington is not taking radical steps against large Chinese financial institutions.
According to former US Treasury official Edward Fishman, Washington is reluctant to punish large foreign banks through which Moscow makes payments. The reason is the risk of damaging relations with the countries where these financial institutions are based.
Martin Chorzempa of the Peterson Institute for International Economics adds that sanctions against large Chinese banks would also hit the US. This could paralyse global supply chains and cause a sharp rise in prices for American consumers.
The EU recently imposed sanctions on two regional Chinese banks that helped Russia circumvent restrictions. However, Europe does not have enough financial leverage to ensure global compliance with the sanctions, says Maria Snegovaya, an expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
In conclusion, the NYT writes that the West's sanctions policy against Russia remains more symbolic than effective, as the main instruments - international financial flows - remain available to Moscow.
