MOSCOW, Russia — Three days into his second term, President Donald Trump threatened to impose “high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States” if Moscow doesn’t reach an agreement to end the war in Ukraine “soon.”
But since the start of the war in February 2022, the West had placed so many sanctions on Russia that it has surpassed Iran to become the most sanctioned country in the world. But whether they’ve made a significant difference in the lives of ordinary Russians is hard to know. What is clear is that the sanctions have proven insufficient in hurting the Russian economy enough to force the Kremlin to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
Last year, Putin boasted about Russia’s economic resilience and its resistance to Western sanctions, saying: “We have growth, and they have decline.” A few months later, Tucker Carlson visited Moscow, toured a grocery store, and came away with pretty much the same conclusion.
But what do ordinary Russians make of that assessment? And what’s actually on the shelves these days? During a short trip to Moscow this January, I decided to find out.
To watch Tanya’s interviews in Moscow, click the video above.
