This was stated by Serhii Kyslytsia, First Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in an interview with Ukrinform.

“The Russian Federation can continue to wage this war desperately for some time—and not a short time at that—despite the number of casualties on its side and all the economic hardships. And that is a fact. Economic sanctions are making life increasingly uncomfortable for Russians, but they are not halting economic activity within Russia,” the diplomat said.

In this context, he noted that there are countries that purchase more than half of Russia’s oil, “and last year alone, Russia traded more than $40 billion worth of oil with just one country.”

There are also countries that help circumvent the sanctions. In particular, as Kyslytsia noted, trade between some countries and the world’s developed nations has increased in recent years not by 50, 100, or 200 percent, but by 1,000 percent. In his view, it is unlikely that these states “suddenly became consumers of such a large quantity of equipment or raw materials.”

Read also:There is no “betrayal” whatsoever in proposals Ukraine submitted to US—

Kyslytsia

The First Deputy Head of the Presidential Office also drew parallels between Russia and the Soviet Union, which never took people’s everyday needs into account in order to build up their military capabilities. In this context, he recalled that “in the USSR, there was no toilet paper, but satellites—including military ones—were launched into space.”

As reported by Ukrinform, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine is coordinating with intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and special services to prepare new sanction packages with partners aimed at limiting Russia’s military capabilities.