As Ukraine makes a valiant stand for its independence in the face of Russian aggression, its ultimate future is still very much up in the air. But that same statement could be made about the invaders just as much as the invaded.
With sanctions tightening around Russia and cutting the country off not just from its relationships with the western world but also from its business dealings and international funding, Guy Williams of Gulf Coast Bank and Trust told Newell Normand on WWL Radio that Vladimir Putin’s hunger for reincorporating old territories back under the Russian umbrella could very well leave his country at the mercy of another world power, but not one from the west.
“If I’m Russia, I’m looking at China with all those people, all those factories, and China is desperately in need of all sorts of resources.
All the water and all the natural resources you have in Siberia. And if you let China get their fingers in, they’re going to control your economy for their benefit,” Williams said.
“So this attack on Ukraine could end up making Russia very much weaker and very dependent on China. They’d literally be the junior partner supplying resources, and China will tell them what to do,” he continued.
Williams also discussed the sanctions placed on Russia by the coalition of western nations that includes the United States, and he said he believes the American people would get behind completely cutting off any American dealings with the Russians.
“It’s intriguing because right now… 80% of Americans are in favor of banning all Russian gas and oil exports to the U.S.,” Williams said. “The American consumer is saying, ‘We’re not willing to fund genocide. We will pay more money at the pump’… I think the [Biden] administration is going to have to catch up with the American people and say we’re going to ban everything.”
