Russian President Vladimir Putin has survived U.S. and European efforts to cripple his economy so far by ramping up defense spending and by finding customers and suppliers in Asia to replace the trading partners he lost in the West.
As the war settled into a grinding stalemate, China, which abstained from U.S.-led sanctions on Russia, emerged as Putin’s savior. Chinese officials stepped up purchases of discounted Russian oil while shipping to Russia large quantities of industrial parts, luxury goods and technology products. India also has become an enthusiastic oil buyer.
“This is the first geopolitical crisis without all of the major Asian economies on board. The West does not have decisive economic power anymore. India and China are enough to keep Russia afloat,” said historian Nicholas Mulder of Cornell University, a sanctions expert.
The Biden administration sought Friday to change that, unveiling a round of sanctions in response to the death in prison of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader. U.S. officials say the Russian economy already has been…
