DISINFO: Anti-Russian sanctions broke EU economy
SUMMARY
The West admitted that the anti-Russian sanctions did not hit the Russians, but those who imposed them. As a result, the EU economy was broken. The Europeans are demanding that their authorities revise their domestic and foreign policies, and foreigners coming to Russia are posting videos shot in our supermarkets on social networks. They are amazed by the abundance and choice of products on store shelves.
The measured and prosperous lifestyle of Russians contrasts strongly with the queues at gas stations in the US, as well as with the crowds of Europeans at the points of distribution of free soup.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation about sanctions on Russia, and on EU disintegration.
The EU adopted so far nine sanction packages against Russia due to its illegal aggression and occupation of Ukrainian territories. The EU is preparing a 10th package of sanctions, which will focus on technology that may be used by Russia’s military and reducing sanctions circumvention.
Europe is facing an energetic crisis that is directly linked not to the sanctions, but to Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine and its use of gas supplies as a weapon of war. The EU took steps “to secure the EU’s energy supplies, such as a gas storage regulation, a gas demand reduction regulation, the creation of an EU energy platform and outreach initiatives for the diversification of supply sources.” Russia is no longer a stable and reliable supplier and while Europe is indeed facing an energy crisis with diversification to other sources, it is still set to grow this year according to the European Commission's summer 2022 forecast, while Russia's economy is expected to contract by 6% in 2022.
It is estimated that in 2022, the Russian GPD reduced by up to perhaps 4.5%.
In addition, a recent study from Yale University takes a detailed look into the effects sanctions are having on the Russian economy, concluding that “business retreats and sanctions are catastrophically crippling the Russian economy.”
Despite benefiting from high energy prices, the IMF still expects Russia’s economy will contract by over 3 percent this year. Lost investment, export controls, and constraints on Russia’s real economy will create a drag on Russia’s growth prospects for years to come. Significantly, U.S. sanctions and export controls have severed Russia’s access to key technologies and industrial inputs that erode its military capability.
See also the assessment of EU HRVP Josep Borrell: sanction policy is working and strongly impacts the Russian economy.
The Autumn 2022 Eurobarometer survey shows that three-quarters of EU citizens approve of the EU’s overall support of Ukraine as well as the specific measures including sanctions against Russia. Democracy, human rights, and free speech are paramount to EU citizens as they call on the European Parliament to defend these values on which the EU is founded.
Read here about the EU and the US sanctions explained.
See other similar examples of disinformation: US is destroying industry in Europe by forcing Brussels to sanction Russia; Western sanctions on Russian energy jeopardize the global economy; Sanctions that were supposed to destroy Russia may disintegrate the EU.