Russia has become the main oil supplier to China: why sanctions do not work against some countries

Western sanctions really don’t work against China, India and a number of other states. The same applies to Russia, which has the ability to bypass various restrictions. However, in general, sanctions have a positive effect, but not as much as Ukraine would like.

This opinion 24 Channel was expressed by foreign and security policy expert at the Center for Defense Strategies, diplomat Alexander Khara, noting that the obvious desire of Ukrainians is the collapse of the Russian economy. Then the aggressor country does not have the resources to continue the war.

Russia is still a powerful player in the market

The reason that sanctions are not so effective, and the Kremlin still has the ability to generate resources, is that there is a global market, primarily the oil market. If one player is taken away from it, this means an increase in energy prices. Neither Joseph Biden nor, especially, the leaders of other countries are interested in such a development of events. They don't want the price of a gallon of fuel to rise by even half a dollar.

This year there will be elections in the European Parliament and other European countries and peace. It is clear that the role played by Russia as an oil exporter does not allow us to somehow bypass it. Unfortunately, there are no workarounds,” noted Alexander Khara.

He added that this could have been the case if Hamas had not attacked Israel on October 7. After all, on the eve of the invasion, it was almost possible to reach agreement on an agreement between Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States. According to the commitments, Saudi Arabia must listen to certain requests from Washington.

One of them would definitely be an increase in oil production. This way it would be possible to reduce the profit that the Russian budget receives from trading these raw materials, or replace Russian oil with Saudi oil.

But we are all interconnected, The world is global, so Russia manages to circumvent sanctions. In addition, China is a silent ally, but Russia does not want to be China's junior partner. It seems to her that they should become one of the centers of global influence. – the diplomat emphasized.

He added that India continues to monitor all this. The country takes the position that the policy of non-alignment, which gave them some positives during the Cold War, can work in the 21st century.

“That is why on one side there is a representative India, who is participating in the discussion of Ukraine’s peace formula, and on the other hand there is their foreign minister, who calls Sergei Lavrov on the phone and tells how interested they are in the joint production of weapons,” emphasized Alexander Khara.

Cooperation between Russia and China: what is known

• The media report that in 2023 China received 107.02 million metric tons of crude oil from Russia. This figure significantly exceeds the supplies of such oil giants as Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Chinese oil refiners have found a way to circumvent Western sanctions. They use intermediary traders to deliver and insure Russian oil. And for the transshipment of sanctioned cargo – the waters of Malaysia.
• During the forum in Davos, Chinese representatives seemed to refuse to meet with the Ukrainian delegation and President Vladimir Zelensky. The media reported this, noting that the reason may be Russian influence. The Ukrainian side reported that such communication was not provided for, but Zelensky confirmed that he was ready for dialogue with decision-making leaders. He called the President of China one of these.
• Russian Gazprom significantly increased imports to China back in 2023, and at the beginning of 2024 it became known about a new historical daily record export to Chinese consumers. In general, the Power of Siberia pipeline should supply 30 billion cubic meters of gas to China by 2024. To achieve this, the aggressor country even promises to increase its production capacity.