Russian lawmakers submitted a draft bill to the Duma that gives a prison term of up to 10 years with significant fines for adhering to the Western sanctions in Russia. The Duma, the lower parliament of Russia, needs to approve this bill as well as obtain a signature from President Putin before it becomes official law. The bill’s overall goal is to prevent significant negative impacts on Russian economy by strengthening state sovereignty.
The United States put forward a release that states they, along with the G7 and European Union, “will continue to impose severe and immediate economic costs on the Putin regime,” the White House reports, as long as they continue their assault on Ukraine. This includes economic measures that ban new investments, establish financial sanctions on Russia’s largest bank, and several of the large state-owned enterprises. While they impose bans, they also agree to continue to provide essential aid such as food supplies and shelter to those in turmoil. With these bans intensifying, U.S. experts predict that Russia’s GDP will contract up to 15 percent this year, heavily impacting their economy, in turn weakening their global competitiveness among all other countries.
While it seems outlandish to think that lawmakers would pass such a bill, Russian lawmakers passed amendments in early March to the criminal code that punish the public for spreading “fake” information, as well as those who called for sanctions against Russia. It is not above them to put harsh circumstances on their people, it is more impactful to prevent businesses from listening to these implemented sanctions.
It is a very valid decision for the powerful entities to implement economic boundaries for Russia as there are limits to what they can truly do to punish them. In the eyes of human rights, they have willingly violated every code that has been established, and without reprise. It is the role of other countries to ban together and create a punishment that is long-term, and impactful enough to hopefully change the Ukraine’s situation. It is the current state of the world that economic threats rather than major human rights trials are the more perilous punishment, yet it is the angle that will hopefully prove to be most effective.
Moving forward, it will be imperative to see how Russia reacts to the reaffirmed sanctions, and if the Duma does pass the bill that was put forward by lawmakers. If more laws are being confirmed by the Russian government to restrict the public as well as their companies, there could be bigger internal kickback that will be important to watch.
