As the ongoing dispute between Russia and Ukraine advanced into explosions in major cities of the latter in the early hours of today (Thursday, February 24, 2022), western companies are poised to be negatively impacted, threatening the world economy.
Journalists, according to multiple reports, heard explosions in Ukrainian cities -Kyiv and the eastern port city of Mariupol, shortly after Putin announced an operation to “demilitarise” the country.
The dispute, which would eventually trigger sanctions from the United States (US) against Russia as promised, would see multinationals like Exxon Mobil, and Shell, struggle with their operations.
However, following the declaration of military actions on Ukraine by President Vladimir Putin, President Joe Biden of the US announced to soon address the world on the economic sanctions that would be meted to Russia.
While maintaining that the attack from Russia on Ukraine would lead to “catastrophic loss of life and human suffering”, Biden stated that there would be consequences as the largest country in the globe would be held accountable for its actions.
In his reaction to the US threat, economic expert Kalu Aja tweeted that “if Russia is successfully sanctioned, then crude oil will remain above $100 This means gas prices in the US and Europe will go up. Higher gas prices will tip the fragile economy into recession and cement higher inflation.”
Why Putin is keen on attacking Ukraine
Russia has long resisted Ukraine’s move towards European institutions, both North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU). Now, Putin has claimed Ukraine is a puppet of the West and was never a proper state.
He, therefore, demands guarantees from the West and Ukraine that it will not join NATO, a defensive alliance of 30 countries, and that Ukraine demilitarise and become a neutral state.
As a former Soviet republic, Ukraine has deep social and cultural ties with Russia, and Russian is widely spoken there, but ever since Russia invaded in 2014 those relations have frayed.
Russia attacked Ukraine when its pro-Russian president was deposed in early 2014. The war in the east has since claimed more than 14,000 lives.
