Western sanctions on Russia are beginning to sting, despite President Vladimir Putin suggesting otherwise. Inflation in Russia is expected to soar to 22% this year, with the IMF chief economist suggesting that its economy could be “thrown into autarchy” if sanctions are expanded. Even Beijing appears to be distancing itself from Moscow as a Chinese state-run Visa and Mastercard rival pulls the plug on its Russia operations. While Russian President Vladimir Putin is claiming that sanctions have failed to undermine the country’s economy, international finance agencies and even Putin’s own officials say otherwise, while Beijing–the Kremlin’s main economic ally–is holding back. “…we can already confidently say that such a policy towards Russia has failed, the strategy of economic blitzkrieg has failed,” Putin said at a meeting with government ministers, stressing that retail demand had normalized and unemployment had remained low. Yet, earlier this month he acknowledged that consumer prices […]