An important factor is that, contrary to Western propaganda, the majority of the Public support Putin. Buying Chinese products with dual purpose technology helps. And lancet drones, proudly Russian made, etc. have proven to be highly effective.
For reasons that still remain unexplained, the US in 2022 staked and subsequently lost both its best weapon (economic sanctions) and the future prospects of its biggest ally (EU). The gambit was a programme of economic warfare v s Russia, which could succeed if and *only if* the US secured cooperation of China. China having been antagonized non-stop by the US since 2018 in unforgivable ways, including kidnapping of Meng Wenzhou, costly attempts to delay Chinese chip manufacturing, attempting to foment separatists in Hong Kong, and providing military assistance to Taiwan.
With the support of China backstopping general industry, Russia had little trouble replacing European imports. US, characteristically, didn't even respect its own policy. Apple products still sell in Russia by the way, in Apple stores. US still buys Russian oil products directly. EU, meanwhile, faces reversal of the 30% energy cost advantage compared to East Asia it enjoyed pre-war, which has now reversed to a 30% disadvantage. It is now compelled to dismantle its heavy industry. Chinese currency has overtaken Euro for second place in global goods trade. There is a significant likelyhood of far right governments after the coming round of elections.
An important factor is that, contrary to Western propaganda, the majority of the Public support Putin. Buying Chinese products with dual purpose technology helps. And lancet drones, proudly Russian made, etc. have proven to be highly effective.
On the opposite end, the USA is extracting more, adding some limitation to Aramaco's price manipulations. ExxonMobil's revenue was $414bn last year.
For reasons that still remain unexplained, the US in 2022 staked and subsequently lost both its best weapon (economic sanctions) and the future prospects of its biggest ally (EU). The gambit was a programme of economic warfare v s Russia, which could succeed if and *only if* the US secured cooperation of China. China having been antagonized non-stop by the US since 2018 in unforgivable ways, including kidnapping of Meng Wenzhou, costly attempts to delay Chinese chip manufacturing, attempting to foment separatists in Hong Kong, and providing military assistance to Taiwan.
With the support of China backstopping general industry, Russia had little trouble replacing European imports. US, characteristically, didn't even respect its own policy. Apple products still sell in Russia by the way, in Apple stores. US still buys Russian oil products directly. EU, meanwhile, faces reversal of the 30% energy cost advantage compared to East Asia it enjoyed pre-war, which has now reversed to a 30% disadvantage. It is now compelled to dismantle its heavy industry. Chinese currency has overtaken Euro for second place in global goods trade. There is a significant likelyhood of far right governments after the coming round of elections.