What the West can do to weaken the ruble

Frankfurt It sounds strange: The West has imposed tough economic sanctions on Russia – and yet the ruble is close to a two-year high against the euro at the beginning of the week. Originally, one goal of the sanctions was to depress the value of the Russian currency.

The calculus was that a weak ruble would drive up inflation in Russia and thereby increase political pressure on President Vladimir Putin and his government. However, after a drastic price slump to its low point on March 7, the ruble has caught up again and is even trading above the level before the start of the Ukraine war.