President Vladimir Putin has claimed European sanctions have done Russia no harm, saying: “We have growth, and they have decline.”, external
Russia has managed to sell oil abroad for more than the G7’s price cap, external, according to the Atlantic Council, a US think tank. It says a “shadow fleet” of about 1,000 tankers is used to ship it, external.
The International Energy Agency says Russia is still exporting 8.3 million barrels of oil a day, external – having increased supplies to India and China.
Russia is also able to import many sanctioned Western goods, external by buying them through countries such as Georgia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, according to researchers at King’s College London.
China has been a vital supplier of alternative hi-tech products to those produced in the West, says Dr Maria Snegovaya from the US think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“China sells it chips and other components it needs to for keep its military production going,” she says. “Russia wouldn’t be able to pull that off without China’s help.”