Russia has enough money for another year of war - Washington Post

The assessment was given by American intelligence, whose reports were in a recent leak from the Pentagon.

Russia will be able to finance the war in Ukraine for at least another year, even with further tightening of already unprecedented sanctions . Such an assessment is contained in alleged Pentagon documents that have hit the Web after a recent leak, writes The Washington Post .

As follows from documents attributed to the Pentagon, US intelligence captures the concern of Russian oligarchs with the economic situation in the country, but also their gradual adaptation to sanctions.

“While some members of the Russian economic elite may disagree with the country’s course towards Ukraine, and the sanctions have hurt their business, they are unlikely to withdraw their support for Russian President Vladimir Putin,” the newspaper writes, citing a leak from the Pentagon.

The Kremlin decided to cover the growing costs of the budget by raising taxes for big business and spending the reserves of the so-called “sovereign wealth fund”. At the same time, business is gradually adapting to the sanctions, building new import chains.

It is noteworthy that the Pentagon documents for some reason do not consider the consequences of the most recent sanctions and the long-term impact of the price ceiling on Russian oil. Also, the estimate does not contain data on such important factors as the cost of ammunition and the need to recruit new soldiers.

As follows from the leaked documents, the main concern among Russians themselves is the growing shortage of foreign currency in banks. They also fear that the West will start imposing secondary sanctions on Chinese companies that trade most actively with Russia – or that these companies themselves will stop trading in order to avoid sanctions.

Sanctions against Russia – latest news

Western sanctions against Russia have played into the hands of neighboring countries, according to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis . He noted that the countries of Central Asia began to make money on the supply of sanctioned goods to Russia.

At the same time, the US is putting pressure on Russia’s partner countries to stop helping the aggressor circumvent sanctions. So, the other day, after the visit of the American representative, Kazakhstan decided to ruin the life of Russian bankers.

(C)UNIAN 2023