“Imitate sanctions unanimity”: how the US Treasury is trying to create a coalition to introduce anti-Russian restrictions

Sanctions against Russia will be effective if they are imposed by a large group of states, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at an event organized by The New York Times.

“There should be a fairly large group of countries that would follow this plan, and it will be necessary to form such a coalition,” she said, recalling that the EU has already announced a gradual refusal to buy Russian oil.

“In addition, he said that he would ban European countries from insuring tankers carrying oil from Russia.

It is highly likely that the UK will also introduce such a ban.

All this may lead to the blocking of a significant amount of Russian oil, ”Yellen believes.

At the same time, the Minister of Finance claims that the sanctions against Russia are effective, despite the consequences of their implementation - the rise in prices for gasoline and food in the world.

“Europe is struggling to become independent of Russian oil, and our sanctions against Russia are changing the situation, significantly affecting food and energy prices.

I believe that our sanctions are extremely effective, but we continue to tighten them, and oil prices may still rise, ”Yellen explained.

Reverse effect 

Recall that after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, Western countries continue to impose broad economic sanctions against Moscow.

At the end of May, the European Union agreed on the sixth package of restrictions, which provides for a partial ban on the import of crude oil and certain petroleum products from the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the Joe Biden administration is trying to expand the circle of countries supporting restrictive measures against Russia.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin called the policy of containing and weakening Russia, including through an economic blockade, a “conscious long-term strategy”.

The head of state emphasized that the leaders of the West no longer hide the fact that their goal is to strike “on the entire domestic economy, on the social, humanitarian sphere, on every family, every citizen of Russia.”

• Vladimir Putin

• RIA News

• © Mikhail Metzel

According to the President, new restrictive measures against the country would sooner or later be introduced in any eventuality.

However, such a policy on the part of the US and EU governments and central banks is irresponsible and short-sighted, Putin stated.

“It was they who, in recent years, with their own hands dispersed the spiral of global inflation, by their actions led to an increase in global poverty and inequality, to new flows of refugees around the world.

The question arises who is now responsible for the millions of starvation deaths in the world's poorest countries due to the growing food shortage, ”the Russian leader emphasized.

Disappointment time

At the same time, even in the West, attention has been repeatedly focused on the fact that the introduction of broad economic restrictions on Russia, especially against the export of energy resources and food, can negatively affect the economies of the Western countries themselves and not have the effect that the US political establishment expects from them. and Europe.

So, at the end of February, the influential magazine The Time published an article entitled “Why sanctions against Russia do not work.”

It cited the opinion of Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, who stated that the restrictive measures imposed by the West against Moscow were ineffective.

“As history shows, such actions always end in failure.

There are always workarounds,” the economist explained.

Economic commentator Larry Eliot came to a similar conclusion in early June when he published a column in the British edition of The Guardian that Russia was winning the economic confrontation with the collective West.

“It has been three months since the West launched an economic war against Russia, and it is not going according to plan.

Quite the contrary — in fact, things are very bad,” notes Elliot.

According to the observer, sanctions against Moscow have had the opposite effect: the prices of Russia's exported oil and gas have risen, which has significantly increased its trade surplus.

In the first four months of 2022, Putin boasts a current account surplus of $96 billion, more than three times the figure for the corresponding period in 2021.

• Newspaper The Guardian

• © The Guardian

Some politicians also talk about the dubious effect of sanctions.

Thus, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, commenting on the results of the EU summit on Ukraine, said that the effect of restrictions had no effect on the financial situation of Russia.

“Sanctions do not work.

The ruble has not fallen, Russia does not feel the financial consequences, and when it does, the war will be over.

But European citizens will pay ... (Russian. -

) oil and gas will simply be supplied to other places, because demand is high, ”said Milanovich.

The statement by the head of the US Treasury on the need to create a coalition to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation suggests that, according to the White House, now the process of pressure on Moscow lacks participants, Andrey Manoilo, doctor of political sciences, explained in a RT commentary.

“This means that, from the point of view of the Americans, not enough countries support the sanctions regime, that is, this is clearly their flaw.

Americans in general are great fans of creating all sorts of so-called strong-willed coalitions.

They are not fixed on paper, but duties appear on everyone who enters them under pressure or at the invitation of the United States.

Apparently, it is planned to create such a coalition to coordinate the sanctions policy against Russia,” the expert said.

But despite the fact that when reading the Western press, one gets the feeling that the whole world is waging an economic confrontation with Moscow, in fact, only a group of Western countries, united by a certain consensus, introduced restrictions, political scientist Alexander Asafov noted in a conversation with RT.

At the same time, the United States is aware that restrictive measures against Russia are not supported by as many participants as they would like.

“Regarding the total number of countries on the planet, this is a small part.

The United States also sees and knows this.

Of course, they would like more countries to join the anti-Russian process.

For example, with regard to China, they have already gone through all the stages: they persuaded, threatened, demanded.

But all to no avail.

And the current statement by the head of the US Treasury only reflects the understanding that there is no global consensus on this issue,” Asafov emphasized.

In addition, Washington's expectations from the result of the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions did not coincide with reality, the political scientist added.

“They counted on the collapse of the Russian economy, but this did not happen.

On the contrary, it caused damage to their economies and led to the emergence of certain questions within the civil society of these countries, ”the expert noted.

At the same time, the statement by the US authorities about the need to form a "coalition on sanctions" can be regarded as a signal that the West has practically exhausted the possibilities for introducing new restrictions, Asafov believes.

“There is nothing left to introduce, and no one expected the processes that are happening to the Russian economy as a result of increased pressure, for example, the strengthening of the currency.

And now it is not clear where they should go next with these sanctions,” the expert explained.

Aleksey Mukhin, general director of the Center for Political Information, agrees with this assessment.

“This is an attempt to put a good face on a bad game.

It is obvious that sanctions distort the world economy and cause serious difficulties for many countries.

As a result, the United States, so that they are not accused of being the culprit of this circumstance, is trying to take as many countries as accomplices and imitate sanctions unanimity, the expert believes.

- In fact, the United States admits that they alone are not able to cope with Russia.

But the initiative to create such a coalition would be detrimental to the global economy, so it is unlikely to be successful.”