Don’t forget that Russia still has some very powerful assets, like nuclear material, nuclear technology, and a veto at the UN. And Russia’s native amounts of oil, fertilizer, and grain means it’s really hard for a lot of smaller countries to side against Russia.
The current sanctions allow many of these countries to turn a nice profit by reselling russian products and energy ressources. The western countries are aware, but hesistant to enforce the sanctions there too, as otherwise it’d cause more conflict.
The US has a lost a lot of soft power over the course of the Trump presidency and the key benefactors are Russia and China. If the US had more credibility it could convince more countries to stand on Ukraines side.
Don’t forget that Russia still has some very powerful assets, like nuclear material, nuclear technology, and a veto at the UN. And Russia’s native amounts of oil, fertilizer, and grain means it’s really hard for a lot of smaller countries to side against Russia.
The current sanctions allow many of these countries to turn a nice profit by reselling russian products and energy ressources. The western countries are aware, but hesistant to enforce the sanctions there too, as otherwise it’d cause more conflict.
The US has a lost a lot of soft power over the course of the Trump presidency and the key benefactors are Russia and China. If the US had more credibility it could convince more countries to stand on Ukraines side.