In the days after the invasion of Ukraine, the White House assessed President Vladimir Putin would end the attack if the US froze over $300 billion owned by the Russian central bank. However, the Washington-led economic war on Moscow has failed to have a major impact on the Russian economy.

According to Bloomberg, in the immediate reaction to Russian forces invading Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the White House began to develop the “economic equivalent of a nuclear weapon” to use against Moscow. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan led the team that designed the sanctions on Moscow’s economy and froze $300 billion in assets of the Russian central bank.

The Joe Biden administration believed the economic war inflicted “shock and awe” on the Russian economy. Bloomberg reported some American officials worried the actions would do too much damage to Russia.

So far, the Western economic war on Russia has failed to have its designed impact on Moscow’s economy. Despite predictions of a double-digit GDP contraction in 2022, the Russian economy held firm, with the rouble one of the top-performing currencies against the dollar.

Nicholas Mulder, a Cornell professor specializing in sanctions, says Washington has changed its strategy. “They’ve given up the expectation that this will change Russian decision-making.” He continued, “Instead, they see it as an economic war of attrition.”

[Terrific. ~ Beege]