Russia’s economy is under pressure, but life on the streets in Moscow and the regions has never been so good, says Chris Weafer, the founder and CEO of Macro Advisory and former head of research at multiple Moscow-based investment banks. The government are trying to crash land the overheating economy and there will be damage, but not a plane wreak, says Weafer.
But to solve Russia’s basic problems, the war in Ukraine needs to stop. Reports are out that it is official: Trump will not send Ukraine any more air defence ammo, “because our own stocks are running low.”
Ukraine has been cut off from US help for the second time. It was already cut off this time last year when the US ran out of money for Ukraine and that ended up with Kyiv running out of air defence missiles and the destruction of its entire non-nuclear power generation capacity. Now Trump has cut Ukraine off for a second time and as the skies open again, Russia is likely to spend the summer bombing anything it wants to with impunity. The mood is black. Some commentators now give Ukraine only six more months before it will have to sue for peace.
In the meantime Putin’s efforts to build up a multipolar world order are going surprisingly well. But it is not just a Sino-Russian effort. Countries around the world are clubbing together in regional alliances to better protect themselves from US bullying. Iran’s relationship with Russia in the 12 day war with Israel is a case in point. The annual BRICS summit is due to convene this month in Brazil and the business of building up the non-aligned alliance between the Global South countries continues.
