The EU just announced its seventh sanctions package, which is set to put an embargo on Russian gold. Gold is Russia’s largest nonenergy export. The Russian government’s response was to shrug it off and downplay the impact of sanctions – a position the Union of Gold Producers in Russia disagrees with, noting that “the country’s gold industry may suffer irreparable damage.”

Author, National Post EditoratLarge, and Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council Diane Francis says, “Russia is in trouble economically, demographically, financially and militarily.” Francis goes on to say, “Punitive Western sanctions, as well as brain and capital drains, are shredding the country’s future.”

In an article titled “To Russia With Malice,” Francis states, “Sanctions against the import of technology such as microchips have caused factories to stop making many consumer products, as well as weapons of war. Automobile production is down by 96.7 percent [and] Aeroflot is using spare parts from outdated aircraft to keep its fleet operating.” Francis warns, “Don’t ever fly Aeroflot and, worst of all, hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of energy, nuclear, and infrastructure projects have been cancelled.”

We invited Diane Francis to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the devastating consequences of Russia’s irredentism toward Ukraine and throughout the remainder of the former Soviet Union.



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ctm410 #russia #ukraine #economy