Russia: Why SWIFT closure did not make sense

>The SWIFT exclusion is not extremely harmful to Putin and his direct followers

>All these events will lead to unrest and panic in the country, which will be put down by the Russian authorities.

This is missing the broader point of economic sanctions like removal from SWIFT. How long are Russian military and security forces going to work without getting paid? This is especially true when you factor in the risk they would be taking. If Putin's government fails and Putin is ousted his supporters will probably be arrested and imprisoned by the new government. Who's going to starve for a lost cause? The fanatics will be the minority.

>Europe has not only put all the leverage and negotiating cards on the table, it has even played the cards. Russia, on the other hand, has not. Russia still has many options to further escalate the invasion (no more gas supplies, nuclear weapons, more troops

This is the most ridiculous assertion in the article. Russia isn't the only gas exporter and if Russia does cut off it's supply countries will just buy it someplace else and invest in alternate energy sources like renewables. It will just incentive countries to achieve energy independence killing Russia's energy market. Russia has the most to lose here, not the West. Russia's economy depends on gas and oil exports. The West doesn't rely on Russia's imports.

The other to point the author makes just fall apart on their own. The West and NATO also has nuclear weapons, more troops than Russia, better trained troops and modern equipment. Not only that NATO and the West has the economies and production capacity to sustain a protracted conflict. Russia doesn't. Committing nuclear suicide is Putin's only card left.