To stop Wladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine we need “Europe’s total embargo on Russian oil and gas. The “formula” for actually meeting the tsar is revealed by Andrei Illarionov, an economist from St. Petersburg and a former adviser to the president. Illarionov said that if Western countries “try to impose a real embargo on oil and gas exports from Russia, I bet Russian military operations in Ukraine will probably be shut down and halted within a month or two.”
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A billion a day for energy
However, Russia’s economic problems are not a problem for Putin, according to Illarionov: “His territorial ambitions, his imperial ambitions are much more important than anything else, including the livelihood of the Russian people and the financial situation of the country … also the financial situation of his government,” adds the economist.
But the money that Europe continues to pay Russia for energy is crucial, even in the current conflict. According to the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, the total amounts to “€1 billion every day for the energy that Putin gives us”.
“A real embargo on Russian energy could end the war in Ukraine” https://t.co/C6nZEhacJT
BBC Business (@BBCBusiness) April 10, 2022
The change of power invites
On Russia’s future, Andrei Illarionov said that a change of government “sooner or later” is inevitable. He said that “it is absolutely impossible to have a positive future for Russia with the current political regime”. Under President Putin, he said, “there is no way to reintegrate the country into international relations, into the world economy.”