Sanctions

Politicians have wished that the Russian economy would collapse, not basing those wishes on fact. One of the main reasons that Russia was able to continue to prosecute its war in Ukraine is because it has income and that income is coming from oil revenue. So there are many countries around the world, China and India in particular, who are directly funding Russia's war in Ukraine because they choose to buy vast amounts of oil from Russia."

I think the United States and Europe have all the cards. They are just not willing to play them, and that is nowhere more evident than in the realm of economic warfare...From the start, the G-7 allies have talked a tough game but have never gone all in on sanctions. We have, at every step of the way, fallen short of what we would need” to inflict sufficient economic pain on Russia to force Putin to recalibrate.

The Russian leadership wants to suggest that sanctions are of no consequence to them, but they clearly are of consequence to then...It hasn't crashed in the way that many European political leaders hoped back in 2022, but the economy is creaking. Its national airline is increasingly grounded because they can't get the spare parts they need. Whilst he [President Putin] may have territorial ambitions in Ukraine, he can't completely ignore the home front, and the home front is slowly but surely collapsing."