US Brings Down Russian Stock Exchanges, And Is Hitting China

Dark times are beginning for authoritarian regimes.

Putin's dream of a Russia without the harmful American dollar has finally come true, but there are nuances. The United States has introduced new, very important sanctions against the Russian Federation, which will significantly curtail the capabilities of the Russian economy and may lead to the de-dollarization of the aggressor country. The sanctions list includes the Moscow Exchange and the national clearing center. They will no longer be able to trade with the American currency, which means de facto exclusion from the global financial system.

The sanctions also affected China and Hong Kong, which is a special economic zone of China. During his visit to China, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned its leader that if Beijing does not stop the activities of companies supporting Russia's military-industrial complex in its shameful and bloody war in Ukraine, the consequences will be tangible. However, Xi Jinping ignored these warnings. The consequences, as we can see, were not long in coming. China's economy has not been in the best condition in recent years, and its stabilization is one of the main tasks for the leader of the PRC. Therefore, Xi Jinping will respond very seriously to new sanctions, and will do everything to prevent new such steps from Washington. This means that the number of companies that continue to help Russia will decrease. Accordingly, the opportunities for the survival of the Russian economy will also decrease.

US President Biden and his administration have realized that Putin perceives the reluctance of Western leaders to escalate as weakness, rather than respect for the values of international law. Well, now the Russian economy will have to try to prove that it can survive without the dollar. Over the past two years, we have heard that it has adapted well to sanctions restrictions, not least thanks to the head of the Russian Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina. However, this is more of a myth than reality — after all, if you have money from oil and access to Chinese economic aid, then you do not necessarily have to be a great guru of economics in Russia.

It looks like dark days are beginning for Russia. Let's hope for China too. After all, the West has finally realized that Russia and China need to be finished off economically, regardless of their own economic inconveniences. Authoritarian regimes must understand that no one will go unpunished after these crimes — the civilized world will not allow them to.

Vitaly Portnikov, youtube.com