WASHINGTON, August 4. /TASS/. The inability of sanctions to cripple Russia’s economy has been one of the most persistent frustrations in Western countries, The Washington Post writes.

According to the newspaper, Moscow has developed a network of new trading partners for oil and energy exports, with China and India being its principal customers. "Russia’s economy actually grew by more than 4% last year," the Washington Post estimates (according to Russia’s Federal Service for State Statistics, the country’s GDP grew by 4.3% in 2024 - TASS).

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump’s plans to impose more sanctions on Russia, India and China run counter to Washington’s intention to make a trade deal with Beijing, the newspaper notes.

Trump announced on August 1 that he planned to introduce sanctions on Russia, even though he was not sure they would impact the process of resolving the Ukraine crisis.

Earlier, Trump set a 50-day deadline for an agreement on Ukraine, adding that if no deal was reached, he would impose 100% tariffs on Moscow and its trading partners. On July 29, the US leader said he was reducing the deadline to 10-12 days. However, he added he wasn’t sure if the move would influence Russia’s position. According to Acting US Alternate Representative to the UN John Kelley, Trump expects Russia and Ukraine to achieve a peaceful solution by August 8. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on July 30 that the Russian economy continued to operate effectively despite Western sanctions.