in short
Table of Contents
Norway and the West continue to support Ukraine with weapons and sanctions against Russia.
Experts believe the sanctions have a meaningful effect on Russia’s economy, despite Putin continuing the war.
Russia’s economy suffers from sanctions with falling export revenues and increasing import prices.
Experts encourage stricter sanctions to further weaken russia’s war economy.
The summary is made of chatgpt and approved by the stock exchange.
Just over three and a half years into the war between Russia and Ukraine, Norway and the West still follow two tracks:
Weapon support for Ukraine – in combination with economic sanctions against Russia.
The goal is clear: to help Ukraine in the defense of her own country, and to weaken the attack power Russia.
The question is: Do the western sanctions work?
From the outside, it may seem that the western sanctions do not have all the world’s importance, for Putin wars unabated.
Experts Dagbladet Børsen has spoken to,though,is in there’s no doubt whatsoever:
– Faller
Russia expert Erlend Bjørtvedt is the head of the analysis company Corses,with the main focus on the sanctions on Russia. He paints a gloomy picture of the condition of the Russian economy.
- It has fallen for four years and still falls.Even official representatives now admit that things are going bad. The estimate for growth is constantly turning down and the estimate for inflation is constantly being screwed up, says Bjørtvedt to Dagbladet Børsen.
– greatest in modern times
(Image of a large vessel/ship)
– screams for resources
Sandbu points out that Russia has used drones from Iran, soldiers from North Korea, and electronics from western household goods in their missiles.
- All these are signs of a war economy that screams for resources beyond what can be mobilized internally and that struggle to get hold of them. this shows that the sanctions have a great effect. Therefore, they should be tightened further, says Sandbu.
– sticks deeply
Martin Sandbu points out that the Putin regime is trying to find ways to meet the economic restrictions that create the least possible political dissatisfaction – a mix of inflation, mobilization, currency restrictions and bank credit, preferably without running any of them too far.
– Norway can do its
It is indeed the combination of different types of sanctions that is critically important to hit Russia as much as possible, Martin Sandbu points out:
* Sanctions on oil sales and tankers affect earning ability.
* Sanctions on selling to Russia make it more expensive to import goods with military use for the money you have still earned.
* Financial sanctions make it challenging and expensive to pay for themselves – which in turn strengthens the other types of sanctions.
Hitting Russia Where It Hurts: Expert Calls for Stronger Sanctions and Enforcement
The current sanctions against Russia aren’t enough, and loopholes are allowing circumvention. According to Martin Sandbu, a leading economic commentator, a key step towards maximizing economic pressure on Russia is to drastically improve enforcement and close existing loopholes.
He argues that the West should seize the approximately $300 billion in Russian currency reserves that have already been blocked and redirect those funds to Ukraine as compensation for the damage inflicted by Russia. This, Sandbu believes, would bolster Ukraine’s defense capabilities and raise the cost of continuing the war for the Kremlin.
Norway, specifically, can contribute by fully denying Russian vessels access to Norwegian ports, even for unloading fish.
moreover, while US President Donald Trump has advocated for high tariffs against China and reduced reliance on Russian energy, Sandbu suggests a more targeted approach. He emphasizes that the Kremlin’s complete dependence on oil and gas sales means any disruption to these revenues will be impactful.
However, Sandbu cautions that Trump’s focus on tariffs may be a tactic to garner European support for his trade war with China. He proposes “secondary sanctions” – directly targeting companies in China and other nations that assist Russia in selling its raw materials – as a more precise and diplomatically sound strategy.
## – Time is in
Erlend Bjørtvedt believes a total ban on the purchase of Russian oil and gas, and sanctions against all importers, is what it takes to hit Putin as hard as possible.
– Now is the time. Prices are low and Central Europe can be supplied from Italy. Imports of fertilizers and metals are also unnecessary. The EU must also turn much harder on machine exports to the Russian weapons industry, says Bjørtvedt.
He states:
– If oil revenues are thrown, it will tip the state against bankruptcy, as it did with the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.
The Black Sea: One of Putin’s warships was subjected to a Ukrainian drone attack on Wednesday, September 10. Video: X. Reporter: Trond Markus gravdal
## – closer to the cliff
Martin Sandbu is clear that Russia must meet with harder measures.
– The West must realize that the alternative to fighting an economic war against Russia is, ultimately, to fight a real war, if Ukraine can no longer keep Russia at a distance.
He believes the development is alarming.
– The drones in Poland and Romania last week show where things are going. Sanctions are a relatively unprotected way of weakening Putin, which we do not use to the fullest.