Meaning roughly 80% of the world population. The "prison" we in the west have put Russia is akin to the prison Jeffery Epstein "served time in" in Florida. That is, he was free to do pretty much whatever he wanted, just like 99% of Russians with money and connections.
We've made nice examples of seizing Russian oligarchs' yachts and homes in London. This has only strengthened Putin because he can now rightly say, "See, I told you you couldn't trust the West not to take your stuff."
The oil and gas embargo of course costs Russia a few percentage points on their profits, but they are doing fine. India is making out like bandits reselling to the EU. The sanctions have more holes than a block of Emmentaler cheese. Greece, which holds 27% of the oil tanker market, made sure of that. They mix a bit of other crudes in with the Russia crude in another tanker and "viola" - no more sanctioned oil.
Russia is doing fine. The US is doing fine. Asia is doing fine. The only people NOT doing fine are the Europeans, the Ukrainians first and foremost.
The EU public has gotten wise to the scam. 10s of thousands, tired of this bullshit war to enrich the US, are protesting. The protests in the bigger countries, i.e. Germany, are getting too big to ignore.
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/02/27/europeans-protest-natos-proxy-war/
The financial world of 1991 is long gone. The scenario of Russia being crushed by Western sanctions was demonstrated conclusively as a failure this last year. It surprised me as well, but it is a fact. Even the massively pro-West IMF say Russia will start to grow again in 2023.
https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/87599/#:~:text=The%20IMF%20released%20a%20report,forecasts%20of%20the%20Russian%20authorities.
All signs point to Russia NOT "going through it again." They learned from the last time, and specifically from sanctions in 2015. They set up alternatives to SWIFT and Western banking. The Russian versions are, of course, smaller now, because they're just getting started.
The US has (IMO) signed our own fiscal death warrant by trying to crush Russia financially. Every country NOT already a full US vassal (i.e. BRICS, ME, Africa, SA) are looking at what happened to Russia and saying, "We better hang out on the fence and keep our options open."
That is why after a year of war and relentless, ubiquitous anti-Russian press in and from the West, the UN vote on Russia's invasion was watered down and STILL only got the same votes as last year.
The longer this war goes on, the worse for everyone in the West except the war profiteers.
