Subject: Re: Putin's running clock
Really? I wonder - through what means? Nearly all of Russia's oil is sold to China and India. The rest goes to Turkey (not an EU member) and a small handful of completely landlocked EU states that were granted exemptions, with Hungary being the biggest - and it's hard to see Trump putting the screws to either Orban or Erdogan.

If they yank more of Russia's banks out of SWIFT, it means a lot for the Russian economy. Transactions of stuff like food have to start going through grey financial markets. Since those folks are operating in ways that skirt the law and thus bearing more risk, the transaction costs go way up. That kind of thing gets passed on to (and felt by) Russia's domestic economy right quick.

One weakness of the current sanctions regime is that it doesn't make the average everyday Russkie feel it.