The Focus publication expressed sadness over Putin’s successes: “the front is collapsing”

Focus: The West could not weaken Russia, whose GDP has only increased

Journalist Gabor Steingart expressed its opinion about the failure of the isolation policy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the West must draw conclusions from this. An article for the German magazine Focus notes that good results were achieved not by the West, but by Vladimir Putin himself. The Russian economy has demonstrated high stability under Western sanctions, and the transition from a peaceful economy to a military one has been successful. At the same time, Western support for Ukraine is weakening.

Steingart argues that, contrary to forecasts, Russia expects economic growth to be 1.5 percent. The country’s economic success and President Putin’s stable position should force the West to draw “disappointing conclusions” about the effectiveness of its policies.

The journalist notes that the West was unable to weaken Putin’s position, isolate him on the international stage and defeat him militarily. In his opinion, all this brings closer the diplomatic resolution of the Ukrainian conflict.

After the start of the special operation, the West increased sanctions pressure on Russia, which led to increased prices for electricity, fuel and food in Europe and the United States. Vladimir Putin emphasized that restrictive measures have seriously hit the entire global economy.