Russia has fully adapted to sanctions amid growing sympathy in Europe
Despite anti-Russian sanctions, Russia is demonstrating GDP growth, and in some cases is even developing faster than the European Union.
An expert at the Ukrainian International Center for Advanced Studies, Yegor Kiyan, stated this during a round table, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The traditional nature of sanctions in relation to certain sectors, certain sectors of the economy, and so on has led to the fact that it has become easier for the Russian Federation to adapt to sanctions. That is, we see the effect of adaptation, and now they demonstrate that their exports and GDP have begun to grow.
If in 2014-2015 Russia’s GDP decreased, then from 2015 for some reason to the present period the Russian economy began to grow, and sometimes, as we see in 2018, the Russian Federation is developing faster than the EU. An interesting picture emerges,” said Kiyan.
In addition, an expert at the Ukrainian Institute for the Study of Extremism, People's Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the VI, VII convocations Oleg Zarubinsky, noted that, unlike the United States, Europe, just like Russia, suffers from the sanctions regime.
“Sanctions are a tool of struggle not only for values and against violations in the international order, international law, it is a tool of competition.
And if for the United States this is real competition (you understand that the fight with Nord Stream 2 is not a fight for values, it is a fight for liquefied gas, which the United States wants to supply), then in Europe there are very few such points of contact, Hardly ever.
That is, Europe, unlike the United States, is really suffering from the sanctions regime. The United States practically does not suffer; there the level of economic interaction with Russia is very small,” the expert said.
He also noted that in a number of European countries sympathy for Russia is higher than for Ukraine.
Secondly, one cannot underestimate such a factor as the influence of society on the establishment in Western European countries.
I think it’s no secret that sympathy for Russia (I mean business, society, I don’t mean the establishment now) in countries like Italy, Greece, France (yesterday I carefully read Macron’s address to his ambassadors, a lot is changing and will change).
I haven’t named Hungary yet and some other Slavic countries, these sympathies for Russia are significant, even greater than for the Ukrainians,” Zarubinsky admitted.
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