BENGALURU: Sanctions imposed on Russia are having a “very significant effect”, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, calling the invasion of Ukraine a “strategic failure” by Vladimir Putin.
“The way I see it, our sanctions have had a very significant negative effect on Russia so far. While by some measures the Russian economy has held up better than might initially have been expected, Russia is now running a significant budget deficit,” Yellen said ahead of a Group of 20 meeting in India.
“It is finding it extremely difficult because of our sanctions and our export controls to obtain the material it needs to replenish its munitions and to, for example, repair 9,000 tanks that have been destroyed because of the war,” Yellen told reporters in Bengaluru.
“We see that it has led to an exodus of some of the most qualified scientists and entrepreneurs in the Russian economy, and an exodus of foreign investment. Russia is running down its holdings in its sovereign wealth fund so… the price cap that we have put on Russian oil is clearly substantially reducing Russia’s revenues,” she said.
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Yellen added that President Putin “thought he would achieve a victory at minimal cost, in the words of CIA director (William) Burns… One year later Putin’s war has been a strategic failure for the Kremlin.”
Yellen said the global economy was “in a better place” than predicted a few months ago in the wake of the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion.
Her comments came ahead of a G20 finance ministers meeting in India.
“In the fall, many were worried about a sharp economic slowdown across the world. The challenges we face are real and the future is always uncertain but the outlook has improved,” Yellen said.
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