Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, the West has desperately sought ways to punish Russia without harming itself. It largely failed.
So far, even unprecedented sanctions have not derailed the Russian economy, let alone forced the Kremlin to change its behavior. Instead, Russia has turned to a war economy: it now produces almost three times as much munitions as NATO, including more missiles than it produced before the war started.
By contrast, much of the West is facing economic stagnation, not least due to the switch from cheap Russian energy to more expensive supplies from elsewhere. The United Kingdom is official is in recession and there has been no growth in the eurozone since the third quarter of 2022, when gas prices soared, prompting the European Central Bank to start raising interest rates to stem runaway inflation to call. Higher fuel prices have helped make former economic powerhouse Germany the worst-performing developed economy.
