Nowadays Russia faces an enormous amount of unprecedented sanctions that were imposed by the West for its barbaric attack on Ukraine. They affect a wide range of sectors of the Russian economy and political system in order to undermine “the Kremlin`s ability to operate its war machine”, as the U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Edayemo said. Moreover, in addition to sanctioning companies in sectors that enable the Kremlin’s malign activities, the USA also plans to take actions to disrupt their critical supply chains. The EU was one of the largest trading partners of Russia, with almost €258 billion of the total trade goods. And the EU introduced a ban on goods and technology that may contribute to Russia’s military enhancement of development of its defense and security sector or, for example, a ban on exports of equipment that are necessary for the energy sector.
Other technological constraints imposed on Russia are also impressive. Technology giant Apple has stopped sellings in Russia’s official online store, shut down Apple Pay in the aggressor country, and removed Kremlin news apps RT News and Sputnik News from the App Store outside Russia. TikTok has suspended the broadcast and download of new content on its video service in Russia. The companies that have imposed restrictions on their products in Russia include Google, Airbnb, Amazon, Spotify, Canon, PayPal, Zoom and many others.
Thus, not to mention all political personal sanctions, it is clear that these restrictions undoubtedly have a negative impact on the functioning of Russia’s political machine. But which one? Are they effective in preventing escalation? But what restrictions are the EU, the UK, the US and other countries ready for?
Speakers:
- Hennadiy Chyzhykov, President of Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Adrian Piechota, representative of Civic Platform “Młodzi Demokraci” Association
- Mstyslav Banik, Head of the Development of Digital Service at Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine
- Hlib Vyshlinsky, Executive Director of Centre for Economic Strategy
UKRAINE IN FLAMES project is created by Ukraine Crisis Media Center, Ukrainian Catholic University’s analitical center and NGO “Euroatlantic Course”. We are aiming at searching a loud support for Ukraine in the war started by Russia on the 24th of February 2022.
If you want to support Ukraine against Russian aggression, check the link with recommendations by Ukraine Crisis Media Center – https://uacrisis.org/en/help-ukraine.
NGO Euroatlantic Course collects donations to support Ukrainian Army and civilians – https://eac.org.ua/en/main-page/.