- Germany's foreign minister Baerbock said sanctions against Russia are not having an "economic impact," per AFP.
- The EU launched 11 rounds of sanctions against Russia to force Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, is disappointed by the ineffectiveness of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
She recently acknowledged that sanctions against Russia haven't achieved their desired impact.
"Economic sanctions should have an economic impact. But that is not the case," Baerbock told German journalist Stephen Lamby in an interview for his book "Emergency: Governing in Times of War" which was released on Thursday, according to AFP.
"We have learned that with rational decisions, rational measures, agreed between civilized governments, it is not possible to end this war," she added in the interview on July 10.
The European Union launched 11 rounds of sanctions against Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, to pressure the Kremlin into ending the war. The US, too, has imposed sweeping sanctions against Russia.
However, Russia's wartime economy seems to be booming as the Kremlin has boosted the production of military equipment and raised pensions, salaries, and other benefits for people who are not well-off, among other subsidies.
Swiss bank UBS' Global Wealth Report 2023 also showed Russians got richer last year, while the US and Europe lost trillions of dollars in private wealth.
The resilience in Russia's economy has baffled economists who predicted catastrophic outcomes following the unprecedented sanctions — although some have warned the state spending that is boosting the bubble isn't sustainable in the long run.
"The logic of democracy does not work in autocracies," Baerbock told Lamby in the interview.
Germany's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request from Insider for comment sent outside regular business hours.