‘Ruble is recovering.’ Putin is gleefully rubbing his hands as ‘frightened Europe’ loses the financial war.’

Many Western commentators have praised their leaders’ united front against the Kremlin’s actions in the month since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to geopolitical forecaster George Friedman, the war “has brought the United States and Europe closer than ever before.” Despite being hit with a slew of harsh sanctions, Moscow appears to be gaining ground on the financial front, with the West only able to go so far without causing too much harm to itself.

The value of Russia’s currency, the ruble, is one indicator of its state in the face of sanctions.

This opened at 81.4 against the US dollar on the day Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.

This had risen dramatically in just seven days to 138.95.

However, on Monday afternoon, former EU Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt stated that the ruble had already recovered a significant amount of ground.

At 3 p.m., the figure was 97.7.

By 9 p.m., it had returned to 94.5, its pre-invasion level.

Mr. Verhofstadt suggested that the reason was Europe’s continued reliance on Russian gas and oil.

In a tweet, he said, “A scared Europe is losing the financial war, as Europe’s gas and oil payments continue to fund Russia’s army.”

“Insane.”

Mr Verhofstadt urged leaders to “double down on sanctions now” to ensure the Kremlin feels the full force of Europe’s frustration with its anger.

However, doing so would result in significant self-harm.

In the United Kingdom, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who recently delivered an underwhelming economic statement amid concerns about rising living costs, warned last week that sanctions against Russia “are not free for us here at home.”

Prior to this, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss stated that “the UK and our allies will face some economic hardship as a result of our sanctions.”

“Our hardships are nothing compared to those endured by the people of Ukraine,” she added.

Just last week, TotalEnergies announced that it is severing ties with Russian oil, but warned that it would be difficult to do so with gas because “Europe’s gas logistics capabilities make it difficult to do without Russian gas in the next two to three years.”