Oligarch Says Those Sanctioned Have No Sway Over Putin

One of Russia’s wealthiest oligarch’s told Bloomberg that sanctions will not deter Vladimir Putin from continuing with his invasion of Ukraine, warning the West that it is failing to understand how power in Moscow works.

Said Mikhail Fridman, the owner of Alpha Bank: “If the people who are in charge in the EU believe that because of sanctions, I could approach Mr. Putin and tell him to stop the war, and it will work, then I’m afraid we’re all in big trouble.”

He added: “The power distance between Mr Putin and anybody else is like the distance between the Earth and the cosmos. To say anything to Putin against the war, for anybody, would be kind of suicide.”