When Russia decided to attack neighboring Ukraine in late February, the West responded with heavy sanctions.

As Russia’s brutal rampage continues, and reports of mass killings of civilians and other gruesome war crimes have poured in, the West has responded with tougher sanctions.

Recently, the European Union also imposed a freeze on Russian oil imports.

From the West, one can get the impression that Russia has become one of the most isolated countries in the world. But that’s not true, writes commentator and journalist Mats Larsson in an article in Swedish Express.

Here you can read everything about the war in Ukraine

– It’s going slowly

Larsson writes that the sanctions introduced by the West are undoubtedly being felt. Together, the West accounts for more than half of the world’s economy, but that is not enough to isolate Russia completely.

Russia continues to trade with countries such as China, India, Thailand and Brazil. Together, these countries account for a third of the world economy.

This is starting to worry US President Joe Biden, who is trying to persuade several countries to agree to sanctions against Russia, Larsson wrote.

– But it went very slowly, despite the fact that the war has offered many examples of Russian aggression and brutality.

Import revenues to Russia have increased

Recently, China said it would continue to support Russia on security issues.

Some countries that have traditionally had good relations with the West, such as Brazil, South Africa and India, have also declared themselves neutral in the conflict.

Among other things, instead of relying on sanctions, India has actually increased its oil imports from Russia since the war broke out.

The high oil and gas prices that characterize the world as a result of war are actually only helping to increase revenues from fossil fuel exports, Larsson wrote.

In addition, Larsson points out that the Russian ruble, which fell in value after the invasion, has now recovered, and even strengthened against the dollar.

Russia’s central bank has also lowered its key interest rate to the same level again after the war. Right after the war broke out, and the sanctions came, they raised the interest rate to 20 percent.

Takes time

Several recent reports have concluded that the war may unfortunately be protracted. Because of this, some people began to question whether the sanctions worked.

Larsson, on the other hand, believes that it is time Russia will start marking sanctions properly.

But who will win, what a possible peace deal might look like, or even what the real purpose of the Russian invasion is, are all difficult questions to answer.

– American political scientist Michael John Williams may have been right when he had to New York Time said that while Washington believed the war in Ukraine would be won in the west, Russia believed it would ultimately be won in the east and south, Larsson wrote.