DISINFO: Instead of crushing Russia, sanctions led to US debt and Europe’s freezing
SUMMARY
Instead of crushing Russia’s economy, as the White House announced after the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, what actually happened, largely as a boomerang effect of the anti-Russian sanctions, is that the US got its debt to grow insanely and European citizens may freeze. The US Department of Treasury reported that the total public debt of the country is above 36 trillion dollars, its historical maximum. This shows that the US has produced for its civil economy, but much more for its military economy and war, and issuing dollars to sustain wars, particularly in Ukraine and Taiwan, has led to this exorbitant level of indebtedness.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about sanctions and the EU’s inescapable dependence on Russia’s energy.
While data on the rising US public debt is correct, the interpretation of its meaning in this disinformation story is a deliberate distortion of facts. The US public debt is not related to US support for Ukraine. Less than half of the US public debt comes from military expenditure, and only a fraction of that was destined to Ukraine or Taiwan. Experts have suggested that the current debt is not as concerning as it may look, neither at its historical peak nor as big as in other developed economies such as Japan. The overall economic situation of the US remains very positive, according to the International Monetary Fund.
While some voices warned about colder temperatures in the 2024-2025 winter that may deplete Europe’s energy reserves faster than usual, and energy prices may be subject to more volatility than in other moments, EU gas storage was at 95% of its full capacity ahead of November 2024. Additionally, 42% percent of the energy the EU consumes is now produced domestically. Previous allegations about Europe’s economic collapse due to its rejection of Russia’s energy have been debunked before here and here.
There is clear evidence that international sanctions are seriously affecting Russia’s economy, as inflation spiked and the ruble plummeted in November 2024 and despite Russian deceptive efforts to portray it as solid.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that new EU sanctions will be as useless and harmful for Europe as previous ones, that the Western economy is a sinking Titanic, that Russia became the World's 4th economic power thanks to the war in Ukraine, or that Russia’s economy is massively outperforming that of the collective West.