Group of finance ministers call for sanctions to be ratcheted up amid signs Moscow’s war machine is weakening
Vladimir Putin is “peddling lies” about the strength of the Russian economy that must be refuted, finance ministers from eight EU member states have said, with growing signs of deterioration in the face of biting sanctions.
They say there are signs that the economy is being “sovietised” with many hallmarks of the former USSR including expropriation of private assets to fund public spending, a “total disregard to the social and economic wellbeing of the population” and reorientation of the economy towards its war in Ukraine.
“If Putin stays on this path, the long-term damage to the Russian economy will be significant,” they wrote in a joint article in the Guardian.
Yeah that post war economy is gonna be hell, and this has knock on effects for years since it limits the spending that can be used to modernize the military in the future. It’s hard to see how this invasion will be remembered as a move that helped Russia long term.
You know what else limits spending? All those dead soldiers won’t be paying taxes, working, contributing anything to their country. Big brain decision making over there.
If Putin get replaced and the war stops everyone in Russia will look back to the “good old days” when Russia was strong and could fight a war and have money. Then the cycle will repeat. It’s just moving money from tomorrow to today, on the surface today looks like the economy is strong.