GENEVA, May 23. /TASS/. The global economy cannot function without supplies of Russian oil and gas and for this reason US President Donald Trump refused to introduce new sanctions against Russia, Lenny Fischer, German investor and banker, former top manager of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse and the Allianz insurance company, said in an interview with the Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche.
“The global economy objectively cannot exist without Russian raw materials,” he said.
According to the German banker, the resources that Russia exports cannot be replaced. For this reason, according to Fischer, the US leader refused to support new sanctions against Moscow proposed in the bill of US senators.
“After all, if they had succeeded, Russian oil would have stopped flowing onto the world market, causing the price of oil to rise again to $140, and inflation would have grown to high levels,” the expert noted.
He called the notion that “it is possible to strangle Russia with sanctions, given the interests of China, India, America and Europe,” madness.
“The Europeans seem ready to commit economic suicide, but not the Americans, the Chinese or the Indians,” Fisher added.
In early April, a group of 50 American senators from both parties introduced a bill on primary and secondary sanctions against Russia and its trading partners if Moscow rejects Washington’s proposals to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. The document provides, in particular, for import duties of up to 500% on goods from countries buying Russian oil, gas and uranium.
On May 20, the Axios portal, citing sources, reported that after a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump told the leaders of European countries and Vladimir Zelensky that he does not intend to impose sanctions against Russia now, since Moscow, in his opinion, is serious about a Ukrainian settlement. On May 19, the presidents of Russia and the United States held a telephone conversation that lasted more than two hours. According to Putin, it was meaningful and frank. The conversation between the two leaders was the third since the beginning of the year. As the head of the Russian state noted, Moscow is ready to work with Kiev on a memorandum on a future peace treaty, which may also include issues of a ceasefire and principles for resolving the conflict.
