There are more than 16,000 sanctions imposed against Russia. Yet the Russian economy and war machine grew by 3.6 per cent in 2023 and is projected to grow another 2.6 per cent in 2024. Nearly six per cent of Russia’s gross domestic product goes towards military spending. At a time when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is...
Last September, I had argued why “a war of arms and a peace of commerce cannot co-exist”. This is a follow up to that and events of the last 2 years sadly reinforce the point. With Russia’s GDP (troublingly) growing by 3.6% in 2023, Putin is overseeing the fastest-growing G7 economy with unemployment at an...
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States imposed an unprecedented package of sanctions intended to make Russia pay a high economic cost for its aggression and to constrain the Russian military. U.S. President Joe Biden declared that Russia would “bear the consequences” for the invasion and emphasized that sanctions were designed to reverse Russia’s military modernization,...
Banned broadcaster RT has ramped up its presence in the UAE and other countries neutral over Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine in a propaganda push to rehabilitate Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin-controlled news channel, formerly known as Russia Today, was banned in the UK and EU, and blocked in the US, after the February 2022 invasion. It...
The new sanctions announced by the UK Foreign Ministry target 29 individuals and companies operating in and supporting Russia’s gold, oil and strategic sectors. Britain sanctioned on Wednesday a network of companies based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that it accuses of being responsible for channeling more than $300 million in gold revenues to...
The Dangerous Loophole in Western Sanctions on Russia. Putin’s weaponry runs on advanced electronic components obtained from a hidden international market. Through a rare, hydra-headed blend of government sanctions and the historic stampede of 1,100 multinational firms out of the country, the economic blockade of Russia has proved highly effective. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war campaign struggles onward,...
Dubai has emerged as a major hub for Russian oil trade, taking over from Geneva as the primary location for traders selling Russia’s oil to consumers globally. Since Switzerland joined the embargo on Moscow following the Ukraine invasion, a significant portion of the trade has shifted to Dubai and other cities in the United Arab...
The United Arab Emirates helps secure key transactions for the Russian offensive against Ukraine, while Dubai has become a haven for oligarchs targeted by Western sanctions. On February 25, 2022, the day after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations (UN) Security Council voted on a Western draft resolution calling for the “immediate...
As the next host of COP28, scheduled for the end of 2023, the United Arab Emirates has become a mecca of international sanctions evasion, and both Russians and Syrians are taking advantage. From November 30 to December 12, 2023, the United Arab Emirates Confederation will host COP28. Not only is Dubai, which is considered a...
DUBAI, July 29 (Reuters) – Dubai’s red-hot property market surged in the first half of the year as investors piled in, with Russians among the top five buyers as the emirate benefits from an influx of wealth in the wake of Western sanctions. The first half saw residential real estate transaction volumes up 60% with...