Germany Sidesteps Sanctions to Indirectly Support Russia’s War

German exports to nations in Russia’s periphery have soared in recent months, Robin Brooks, chief economist of the Institute of International Finance, reported on August 6 and 7. The trend allows traders in Russian partner nations, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus, to quietly re-export German goods into Russia, which furthers Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The latest data from the German statistics office shows that German exports to Kyrgyzstan surged by a stunning 949 percent at of the end of March, reaching $187.1 million worth. By the end of June, that figure skyrocketed far higher.

A similar trend is occurring in German exports to Kazakhstan (which are up 105 percent over last year) and to a group of other Central Asian nations and to Belarus (which are both up 75 percent). “Not all of this stuff is going to Russia,” Brooks wrote. “But a lot of it probably is.”

Sanctions busting: These dramatic export increases come amid efforts led by the United States to sanction Russia as a means of hindering its ability to keep waging war on Ukraine. The sanctions campaigns forbid nations from many aspects of trading with Russia, with the aim of preventing Russia from obtaining militarily-useful goods. The sanctions also seek to deny the Russian people access to cherished Western goods, in hopes that this will bring anti-war pressure against the regime of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin.

By drastically increasing exports to third nations that can in turn sell to Russia, the Germans are undermining the sanctions campaigns and indirectly furthering Russia’s war.

The Trumpet said: In 2008, shortly after Russia invaded the former Soviet nation of Georgia and seized a fifth of its territory, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry said it had happened with German approval:

I believe that Germany’s leaders may have already agreed to a deal with Russia, a modern Hitler-Stalin pact where Germany and Russia divide countries and assets between themselves. This agreement would allow each to turn its sights on other targets. Any such deal that may have been struck between Germany and Russia is a precursor to war!

At present, the Germans are taking some measures to oppose Russia’s war. But as Germany’s discontent with the U.S.-led world order intensifies, we should expect the nations to break from America and more overtly side with Russia—in a crucial step toward building a German-led military superpower.

“Many elite Germans feel their nation has now gotten all it can from the U.S. and are ready to move on,” Mr. Flurry wrote in 2018. “Some powerful Germans are thinking more and more about the Holy Roman Empire, and they want modern Germany to assume more power of its own in the spirit of that empire. They want to establish Europe as a mighty, German-led superpower.”

Learn more: Read “Germany’s Secret Alliance With Russia—Exposed!”