In what is being called one of the clearest signs of Moscow being weakened, a state run oil agency has announced that it is selling its international assets following western sanctions in regards to Ukraine last week. The devastating announcement by Russia ‘s Lukoil marks yet another negative turn for Russia.
The Lowdown
Russia ‘s financial status has been strategically weakened. According to Reuters, one of Russia ‘s state run oil agencies Lukoil has announced that it is selling its international assets. The move comes after last week ‘s sanctions placed on such entities in Russia by the United States amid the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war that Vladamir Putin is solely responsible for. It is one of the clearest signs yet that western sanctions are in fact taking a big bite out of life in Moscow despite the way the Kremlin’s media machine makes it appear.
What happened?
On 22 October American officials formally imposed sanctions on Russia ‘s two biggest oil providers Lukoil and Rosneft. The sanctions were in direct response to Putin ‘s unwillingness to come to the negotiation table to end his invasion/war in and of Ukraine. Following the United States, officials in the UK repeated the same action sanctioning both entities.