Russian President Vladimir Putin has underscored an inconvenient truth: the sanctions that the West have imposed on Russia that include freezing half of its own $640 billion reserves in gold and foreign exchange have boomeranged on them. In a speech at thein Vladivostok, which was attended by officials from 68 countries, Putin cited the effects that the sanctions have had on the West itself.
The inflation in Germany has reached 7.9 percent, in Belgium 9.9 percent, in the Netherlands 12 percent, Latvia 20.8 percent, Lithuania 21.1 percent and Estonia 25.2 percent. And it is still on the rise. Now the global economy is in turmoil with an inflation spike heretofore unheard of. Americans saw their gas pump prices rise and other prime commodities as well. And this has persisted even with the optimism that greeted the opening of the global economy. As a result, there was a rout in the stock markets as the high inflation numbers arose from increased rents.