Russia's wartime economy growth: A masking of nation's wealth depletion, warns Foreign Minister Sikorski
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6:22 AM EST, February 24, 2024
Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski is in New York for the General Assembly of the United Nations. He commended the USA for implementing additional sanctions on Russia.
"The assassination of Alexei Navalny should have repercussions, and as the EU, we too, hopefully, will initiate consequences," Sikorski said.
Journalists pointed out that the Russian economy is experiencing growth despite sanctions. Sikorski noted that this is due to their economony's transition to a wartime footing. "When we begin to make, say, a larger number of missiles instead of cars, our GDP escalates, but the country's wealth contracts," he elucidated.
He characterized this as an "action of depleting the nation's reserves". "I'll recall that the USSR too committed a tremendous portion of their revenue to armaments. This culminated in bankruptcy and fragmentation. Today Vladimir Putin is tracing the path of Brezhnev", he deliberated.
"He's squandering the future developmental potential of his nation. He's investing in notions of imperial power, rather than the necessities of Russia and its citizens", Sikorski assessed.
"There's no more time to squander"
He highlighted the necessity for the West to respond to these actions. Sikorski reminded that he and the Minister of National Defence, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, wrote a letter to the heads of EU foreign affairs and defense departments, advocating the transition of economies into wartime mode.
"I am confident that these threats from ex-president Medvedev or the seizure of Avdiivka have made European politicians realize that there's no time left to waste", he stated.
He expounded that his purpose in the United States is to persuade Republican congressmen to endorse the aide package for Ukraine. He expressed optimism that he can rely on their consideration. He indicated that an interview with Volodymyr Zelensky was aired on the Republican-favoured Fox News, which could signal a shift in the current mindset of the American right-wing political landscape.
