"Krone" commentary

What sanctions are honestly worth

Analyzes for the "Krone": foreign policy expert Kurt Seinitz(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

Word has gotten around that the sanctions have no influence on Russia's war against Ukraine. Putin has found detours, be it imports via states that do not comply with the sanctions, be it (oil) exports on ships flying half-shady flags - Russia's rusty shadow fleet.

The Russian economy has held out astonishingly well, but the effects are slowly being felt, albeit at such a pace that the truly lasting damage will only become apparent after the war. Poor next generation.

The Russians are masters of improvisation, of muddling through. In a Ukrainian military institute, where looted weapons are dismantled, the representative of the British magazine "Economist" was told: "Here you see a part from Japan, Sony Company, here is a drone with parts from Bosch, and here is a drive part from China still labeled Made in USA". So much for the sanctions imposed by the international community of sanction-breakers.

We should not expect any quick successes from the sanctions weapon. It is a long-term weapon, like the one used against the apartheid regime in South Africa. Duration: 30 years. Main weapon: de-investment.

No matter how many "strategic partnerships" Putin concludes with regimes of his caliber against the sanctions, China will emerge from Russia's war as the profiteer.