DISINFO: Sanctions imposed on Russia only led to economic growth in the country
SUMMARY
The result of sanctions imposed on Russia is visible. They only caused economic growth in the country.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the EU sanctions on Russia, which aims to portray the Russian economy as strong and the sanctions as useless. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The claim seeks to portray a rosy impression of the Russian economy which is seriously contrasted by famous economists including for example Sergei Guriev, see his analysis here. In the long run, Guriev says, Putin's economy is not great, plagued by capital outflow and lack of access to modern technologies, but Russia’s revitalised repressive apparatus can easily tamp down discontent for now.
Rosy GDP figures are misleading during wartime, Guriev pointed out, because they reflect ramped-up military production, which doesn’t contribute either to quality of life or to future, sustainable economic growth; some indicators, in fact, suggest a grimmer economic picture for ordinary Russians — for example, a 10% drop in consumer spending in 2022.
Russia’s economy has felt a serious impact from the international sanctions for its unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The ruble has weakened and inflation is high. Despite Moscow’s welcoming efforts, Foreign Direct Investment into Russia is falling. Hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens have fled the country since the outbreak of the invasion. Sanctions on Russia's banking and financial system, the embargo on electronic components and the price caps on Russian oil and petroleum products have also led to serious consequences for the Russian economy in comparison with what could have been achieved had Moscow not decided to launch a full-scale war against Ukraine.
Despite some temporarily occasional and insignificant rising trends due to military spending, sanctions against Russia have generally led to a decline in its trade and negative trends in its general economic performance.
Russia’s economy can suffer from overheating in the long run, which some senior economic officials in Russia recognise. Foreign Direct Investment has dropped to insignificance. The fact that Russia has to purchase drones and other kinds of military equipment abroad is another indication of its economic shortfalls despite boasting of a leading military industry.
The EU has reacted swiftly and strongly to the Russian unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine with unprecedented support for Kyiv. 14 sanction packages have so far been adopted against Moscow, which have severely damaged the Russian economy. Following the adoption of the 14th package on 24 June 2024, HRVP Josep Borrell stated that sanctions “have already significantly weakened the Russian economy and prevented Putin from accomplishing his plans to destroy Ukraine.”
The EU imposed economic sanctions on Russia in the wake of its illegal annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014. More sanctions have been imposed on Moscow since the launch of its unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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