Sanctions will not succeed and rarely, if ever, have been the deciding factor in conflicts.
American media continues to push narratives that suggest the sanctions have real teeth and suggest the Russian people will rebel as the bodies return home.
The reality is that the Russian economy continues to expand, even out pacing Britain and Germany and will continue to do so as their trade with powerful economies such as China, India and Turkey explode, none of which support sanctions.
The Russian people’s support for the war does not faulter as had been hoped, but grows in patriotic fervor as their sources of information pitch the West as working toward Russian destruction.
The end game we hope for and need:
- The West recognizes roughly 7% of Ukraine as Russian, including Crimea and the Russian-speaking areas of Donetsk and Luhansk — roughly the territory Russia claimed in 2014.
- Ukraine, whose economy has crashed, gets to retain all of the territory they had prior to the 2022 invasion, gets peace, and the funds to rebuild, substantially but not solely provided by Russia.
Neither Russia nor the West can lose in this conflict. Anything much less or much more than such a compromise will put world disaster on the table.
Richard Kimball, Vote Smart Founder
Sign up on my Blog at: richardkimball.org or Medium.com at: https://medium.com/@daffieduck2016
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