[Biden] Putin is the aggressor.
Putin chose this war.
Today I am authorising the distant strong sanctions.
[Timofeev] The strategy is to crush the Russian economy,
to inflict maximum damage
[Biden] We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas, and energy.
[Ritter] Joe Biden, in imposing these sanctions on Russia,
he has destroyed the American economy.
So, there’s your boomerang effect.
[Girl] Sorry to say,
we’re suffering the price
for something that’s happening in another country.
[Man] It’s just really hitting people on the pocketbook.
[Timofeev] There'll be an iron curtain, Russia has no alternative but Asian markets
[Biden] This is going to impose severe costs on the Russian economy,
both immediately and over time.
[Spitsin] Countries subjected to completely illegitimate sanctions will need to support each other
[Rouhani] Economic sanctions are employed as
tools for domination and neocolonialism today
[Izadi] 21st century is going to be the Asian century.
Russia is also an Asian country.
And we need to develop military cooperation
similar to what NATO does in Europe.
[Sushentsov] The issue is the future of the dollar as the world reserve currency
[VO] Trade wars, the search for new markets, import substitution.
The word 'sanctions' has become part of the daily vocabulary.
Newswires are flooded with more and more reports of restrictions.
However, sanctions, as an instrument of influence, are nothing new.
They’ve been used against Russia for decades.
[Andrey Sushentsov, dean, school of international relations, mgimo] The US strategy is to use sanctions when political pressure fails
and military threats don't work
[Author] How and when did the United States come up with the concept of sanctions
instead of real military action or operation?
[Scott Ritter, military analyst] Sanctions can be imposed when you don’t know what to do.
Does the United States want to go to war with Russia over Ukraine?
I can tell you right now that
that would not be a popular outcome,
given the fact that
Russia has 6,000 nuclear weapons,
we have 5,500.
And any war with Russia
would tend to cause a global temperature to rise by, say, 200,000 degrees.
Meaning, the end of the world.
[VO] Today, Russia is the country with the most sanctions imposed against it.
A number those is constantly growing.
Most of restrictions are against individuals.
The rest are imposed on organisations.
Some experts compared the measures to 'financial nuclear warfare.'
[Ritter] When you don’t have a military option, economic
sanctions is the politically expedient alternative.
But it’s an alternative that doesn’t really
address the problem it’s supposed to address.
It’s done to appease the domestic political audience.
[Ivan Timofeev, programme director, valdai discussion club] The strategy is to crush the Russian economy
It's a new development in policy: we haven't seen the like of it for at least 20 years
We've already seen so-called targeted or smart sanctions:
selective sanctions imposed on certain individuals or organizations
But what we see now is carpet bombing,
a return to the 'full strike' approach against all key sectors of the economy:
very strict export controls, transport sanctions, visa restrictions...
In other words, they went all out!
[Sushentsov] The 1st massive wave of sanctions at the end of February
was prepared by the US in advance
The 2nd part formed a massive information campaign targeting Russia
And 3rd was tacit military support for Ukraine...
via intelligence data and arms supplies
[Ritter] Sanctioning somebody, you know,
creates the cause-and-effect relationship in the global economy that
has a detrimental impact on your own economic activity.
[Sushentsov] Russia is the first major power to strongly oppose the American vision
of what security in Europe should look like
Russia is taking a risk
It's taking responsibility for the various
consequences that might result from this crisis
But America too is risking its military security assurances to its allies
The global economy's financial infrastructure is under threat,
as is trust in them as a global leader
The issue is the future of the dollar as the world reserve currency
In the global economy, there are countries that produce resources,
and those with world reserve currencies that produce services
Russia and China exchange resources for currencies of service-producing nations,
often holding foreign currency surpluses in
the banks of countries that issue that currency
Now, they've seized half of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves
[Andrey Margolin, professor of economics, ranepa vice rector] More than $300 bn of the Central Bank's reserves have been stolen!
It's serious! The world economy's never seen anything like it
[Sushentsov] Any country planning foreign policy independent of the West will now think twice
about depositing surplus resources in foreign currency, and in foreign banks
The decades-old global settlement system centred on the US Federal Reserve is breaking
[Spitsyn] The word 'sanctions' first emerged in the 20th century
The 1st sanctions against Soviet Russia came
immediately after the Bolsheviks took power
Mainly, because Lenin's Soviet government had entered into separate negotiations
with Germany and its allies and signed the Treaty of Brest,
which violated Russia's obligations to the other Entente countries
to continue the war until victory had been secured
[VO] The Entente sanctions had a serious impact on foreign trade.
The US accused the USSR of lowballing prices for matches, coal, asbestos,
and manganese it exported to America
and it imposed import duties.
The embargo banned the export to the USSR aviation industry.
[Evgeny Spitsyn, historian] We found loopholes in these sanctions
and sold as much oil, lumber, and even matches as we needed to
But we had to pay with Hermitage paintings
We sold about 150 paintings
About 20 were by great painters: Rembrandt, Velazquez…
We'd just begun accelerating industrialisation
We had to purchase large quantities of machines and equipment
and bring in specialists from America
So, when you weigh 20 paintings
against the need for the Soviet Union to survive in a capitalist environment,
you realise it was a vital measure
[VO] In the Cold War, the US began to apply a new
type of economic sanctions against the USSR
aimed at cutting off access to advanced technology.
[Spitsyn] In 1948, the US and its allies set up an export control committee
They met annually to determine what goods couldn't be supplied to the Soviet Union,
even for gold or hard currency
This policy was maintained throughout the Soviet Union's existence
[VO] In the 1960s,
NATO approved an embargo bill banning the export of large-diameter pipes
used in the Druzhba oil pipeline to the USSR.
In the 1980s
a contract to supply 17 million tonnes of grain to the USSR was cancelled.
This was America response to the Soviet Union sending troops to Afghanistan.
50 countries boycotted the summer Olympics in Moscow.
And following an incident with the Korean Boeing,
Aeroflot was unable to operate flights to the United States for several years.
[Spitsyn] Since 1945, economic sanctions have only been
officially imposed twice through UN bodies
Against South Africa and Rhodesia, due to the apartheid policy
All other sanctions, under international law, are unlawful and of an illegal nature
They are imposed by America and its military and political satellites
to put pressure on countries that do not want to recognise the dictates
of the USA in the global arena
[VO] Once one of the richest countries in Latin America,
Venezuela has teetered on the edge of collapse for the last few years.
[LIVE, citizen] We used to have the world's biggest oil refineries
Now, we can't even produce enough oil for Venezuelans
[VO] The country had abundance of oil,
and almost entirely dependent on its exports.
[Prof. Vladimir Adrianza, International geopolitics analyst, economist, energy and oil expert] For about a century,
Venezuela lived in an economy, where we exported oil and imported everything else
Economic sanctions on Venezuela hit that exact economic model,
which depends solely on oil, and I must say, it was in the USA's interests
[LIVE] They can take their visas and stick them where they belong!
Insolent imperialist Yankees!
[VO] Until 2013,
state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela was #5 among the most influential oil companies.
The oil price plunge struck Venezuela’s economy in 2014.
Strikes soon followed:
since 2015,
the White House has blocked Venezuela’s access to the American financial markets.
The Central Bank of Venezuela
was cut off from international transactions.
Later, public debt operations were banned as well.
The finishing blow to their economy
was a ban on trade with the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela.
As a result, in just a few years, oil production decreased almost five times.
[Adrianza] Production is still running thanks to support from countries like Iran,
which helped Venezuela by providing oil and petrol engineering supplies
that are currently impossible to import from the US
[VO] Petroleos de Venezuela fell into disgrace after 2018,
when Maduro managed to get re-elected for the second term.
Then, both the US and the EU
refused to recognise the election results.
[Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelan president] Venezuela is under international financial pressure
30 billion dollars have been confiscated, in fact stolen, from us
Venezuela cannot access banks in other countries,
nor can we pay for products
[Timofeev] Western officials often say,
'We're not imposing sanctions on the people, but on the elite'
But that's not true because it's the vulnerable who suffer the most
Whether it's in Venezuela, in Iran, in Iraq or, as we see now, in Russia
Their theory also holds that
declining living standards will prompt dissatisfied people to take to the streets
That's far from always true
In fact, if there are sanctions, the authorities can often unite the people
and turn the dissatisfaction against the sanction initiators
[LIVE, Maduro] We rejected US imperialist aggression
[GEO] March 2015 Caracas, Venezuela
It was a surge of courage, no empire can twist the Venezuelan people's arms
No empire has been born yet that can twist our arms and beat the Venezuelan people!
[Adrianza] I must add that it all happened amid the pandemic
During the pandemic, Venezuela in particular needed income from abroad
That external reserve was blocked for Venezuela
It could not be used to buy medicine and vaccines
to combat the pandemic, even though it was for humanitarian needs
[Ritter] This is the reality of sanctions:
you are attacking a civilian population
with means that are just as deadly as any bomb or bullet.
In some cases, even more so, because we’re dealing with diseases.
So, sanctions aren’t nearly as copacetic as people think.
Some people say, “Well, we choose sanctions over war, because war’s so violent.”
Sanctions are just as violent.
[Maduro] Russia, under Putin, has become a new world power, risen again in the 21st century
The new Russia is a world power, able to...
maintain peace and stand against imperialism and aggression 00:14:12,943 00:14:13,363 [GEO] Greece
[VO] Rising prices for groceries and essential goods,
panic and hype.
This leads to empty shelves at the supermarkets, and retailer profiteering. 00:14:20,937 00:14:21,177 [GEO] Moldova
[VO] Despite the fact that sanctions have been imposed on one country only -Russia,
people in different parts of the world are feeling the impact. 00:14:27,270 00:14:27,570 [GEO] Germany
[VO] The so-called ‘unilateral’ sanctions have a boomerang effect
on the countries that have imposed them.
[Biden] We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy.
That means, Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at US ports,
and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine.
[American citizen] I'm just gonna say oil, let's say, natural gas companies
are making a grab for money,
which, you know, is what, how America works.
[Woman] Well, I drive too much car back to New Jersey to New York.
So I'm spending a lot of money for the gas.
Before they were $35 to fill up my tank,
now there's $55 to fill up my tank now.
[Ritter] Diesel prices are skyrocketing
and diesel is the primary fuel of transport.
The fleets of trucks that make things move from
point A to point B throughout the United States,
you have just become
exponentially more expensive to operate.
And when the transportation costs go through the roof,
transportation companies have a choice about
shutting down or transferring these costs onto their customers.
And we're, we're seeing that already.
The price of food is skyrocketing.
There is tremendous insecurity right now
in the market because of a lack of certainty
on how Russian oil is going to be replaced, how, what the impact this is going to be.
[Timofeev] As Russia was deeply integrated in the
world economy and had very deep EU trade ties,
they will suffer losses
There will be a slowdown in economic growth, inflation, higher gas prices, etc. 00:16:11,331 00:16:11,764 [GEO] Germnay
They'll suffer, pay more, and be told it's all Russia's fault
Now they can blame their other problems on Russia,
like US inflation, which isn't only connected with Russia
For them, it's a gift, because they can now blame it all on Moscow
[Biden] I know this is hard and the Americans are already hurting.
I will do everything in my power to limit the pain
the American people are feeling at a gas pump.
[Sushentsov] Now, seeing how Western leaders, including in the US,
are actively calling on people to tighten their belts
and present it as a 'good vs evil' thing, in which all must make sacrifices,
they assume it will be a short-term sacrifice, as they see it, one that the voters can make
If the situation drags on, or strongly affects social stability in the United States,
it will surely be a landmark crisis for the Democratic administration
[Margolin] Further European sanctions will mainly be individual, which is quite ridiculous
Perhaps some companies, but it already looks like impotence
Well, to ban the import of Russian energy resources is suicidal
Not even America prohibits the import of Russian uranium,
which is strange and inconsistent
The quality of the intellectual elite that now governs the West...
It has, of course, deteriorated greatly over the last 20, 30, 40 years
In my opinion, Western civilization is degrading before our very eyes
[VO] Many experts predict that the anti-Russian
sanctions will follow the Iranian scenario.
For more than 40 years,
Iran’s been living under a Western economic blockade.
[Foad Izadi, professor of political science, university of Tehran] The richer people generally manage to continue living.
The lower segments of society, the middle class, they do face difficulties.
[VO] Generally around the world sanctions were seen
as a response to religious fanatics taking power.
But it wasn’t that simple.
After Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979,
the pro-Western shah was overthrown.
He fled the country, taking a considerable part of the treasury with him.
Protesters in Tehran
responded by seizing the American Embassy.
They took 66 staff hostage and demanded Washington extradite the fugitive leader.
The Shia clergy, led by Ayatollah Khomeini
and to take power into their own hands.
US President Jimmy Carter ordered Iranian oil export to be ceased,
Iranian deposits in American banks were frozen,
sales of military goods were banned.
Breaking diplomatic relations, the US ban all exports, including food and medicines
[Iranians] It's very hard to buy special drugs now 00:19:08,890 00:19:09,217 [GEO] Iran
People with rare diseases face lots of problems
The drugs are expensive, and they're difficult to get
We spend our whole salary on drugs here
My children buy them, so I don't know what they cost
[Timofeev] The Iranians evade export controls and financial sanctions in a lot of ways,
like selling oil at a discount,
switching off trackers on oil tankers to make them harder to identify,
and developing their own industry
They've compensated for the sanctions in some areas, but not all
[VO] The 1979 Islamic revolution was a response to earlier events.
For three decades Washington and London dictated terms for Teheran
preventing it from extracting oil in its own territory.
[Izadi] After the nationalization of Iranian oil
the British government and the American government
created the coup in 1953.
They overthrew legally elected government of Mohammad Mosaddegh.
So for a while Western oil companies were controlling Iran’s resources,
and this is this story, for fact, that
Iran didn't know how much oil was going out.
[LIVE] Down with USA!
Down with USA!
[VO] Iran got its black gold back
but lost access to technologies and legal markets.
The country found itself in decades-long blockade
suffering wave after wave of sanctions.
[Ritter] They've benefited from having an economy that
such a diversify,
at least on the domestic front, from
an energy focused economy to have
viable agricultural and other industries
that could keep the Iranian people gainfully employed.
But let's not be under any illusions.
The Iranian people have suffered egregiously because of these sanctions.
And it's not just the health,
but it's also missed opportunities.
You know, we live in a global community,
the ability to interact with the rest of the world on a meaningful level
was denied to the Iranians through many, many years.
[VO] Supporting terrorism,
human rights violation,
the nuclear missile programme:
all these issues were used to justify sanctions.
[Izadi] Iran entered the nuclear agreement
and the other side left the agreement.
So they realise that the fact that there is no agreement, it's not because of
the doings of the Iranian government.
It's because of the US government’s difficulties and unkept promises.
When you compare the sanctions after the nuclear agreement to the sanctions before
Iran was actually sanctioned more after the
nuclear agreement, after giving concessions.
This is actually true for Russia.
It's true for Iran.
That no matter what you do the other side wants to sanction you
and they find some excuse.
[VO] When Iran resumed its nuclear programme the West cut
access to the SWIFT international banking system.
But the substitute was found.
To evade the US sanctions Germany, France and Great Britain
launched INSTEX (the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) - an SWIFT equivalent.
[Izadi] Iran decided to do
when Iran was cut off from the SWIFT system
was developing other ways of trading.
For example, barter trading, you exchange goods,
you avoid the normal banking system.
Iran started to develop front companies, companies
that when you looked at them, they were not Iranian companies,
but they were linked to Iranian entities.
[Hassan Rouhani, Iranian president] The Islamic world should consider measures
to set itself free from the domination of the US dollar and America's financial system
Economic sanctions are employed as tools for domination and neocolonialism today
The war in Syria and Yemen...
and chaos and disturbances in Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Afghanistan...
are the result of internal unrest, extremism, and foreign interference
[Izadi] So the country decided to have a long term plan of going around sanctions,
having good relations with the countries that'd like to work with you.
Monetary resources of the world is going to Asia.
A strength, military capabilities is developed quite sophisticatedly in Asia.
Russia is also an Asian country
and we need to develop military cooperation similar to what NATO does in Europe.
[Sushentsov] Russia was thought to have a strong interest in building economic ties with the West
It was a member of the system centred around the US
Meanwhile, security issues mounted:
NATO expansion, colour revolutions, interference in its internal affairs
The Westerners thought Russia would eventually lose its status as a strategic player,
give up its role as a world leader, and abandon its independent foreign policy
Since the early '90s, this 'Russia is in decline' thesis
has been actively promoted by US intellectuals and politicians
They were so sure of this they didn't believe until the last
that Russia would protect its interests by force
[Ritter] Russia has good relations with the most populous nation on the planet, China,
and the world, a, an economy that drives the global economic machinery.
Russia has great relations with India,
the second most populous country in the world,
again, with a thriving, booming economy
that Russia is thoroughly integrated.
And what have we noticed, in the, in, in,
in the post sanctioned environment,
neither China nor India have joined in these sanctions.
They both are working with Russia to continue economic cooperation.
[Zhao Lijian, spokesperson, chinese foreign ministry] It's the countries that thought they could dominate the world by winning the Cold War
that should feel uncomfortable
The countries that ignored the concerns of other nations
and continued to promote 5 rounds of NATO expansion to the East
The countries that started wars but accused other countries of being belligerent
[Sushentsov] The Chinese aren't neutral in the conflict
They clearly state that the countries which conducted 5 rounds of NATO expansion are to blame
They note the US' role in initiating this process, in aggravating tensions with Europe,
and in pushing Russia to where the conflict would be resolved by force
[Antony Blinken, US secretary of state] President Biden will be speaking to president Xi tomorrow
and we'll make clear that China will bear responsibility
for any actions it takes to support Russia's aggression
and we will not hesitate to impose costs.
[Margolin] China is in a difficult position
Its trade with the US amounts to $750 bn, compared to $150 bn with us
It's influenced by the fear of losing markets
But this is mutual, so the US can't go too far
[Sushentsov] We live in a kind of new economic
reality, which we need to accept exactly as it is,
and proceed from the fact that there are new channels of economic interaction
between Russia and the East and the West that
will be built on this new geopolitical reality
[Margolin] Saudi Arabia and China are discussing the possibility of selling oil for yuan
We're negotiating with India on mutual trade in rupees, and with China, in yuan
We are witnessing the collapse of the global world order set up by the US
We'll never return to the world we once lived in