Turkey has registered a 198 percent trade volume increase with Russia since its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, second only to India, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
Turkey, along with China, is among the few countries, that has deepened its relationships with Russia since the war began in February, NY Times said in a report analysing years of country-level trade data compiled by online data platform, the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered a series of sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States, among others, which include restrictions on Russia’s financial industry, its central bank and its coal and oil exporters, in addition to general export controls. Russia’s the volume of imports are plunging amid sanctions and trade limits.
But Turkey’s imports from Russia have increased by 213 percent since the start of the war, the NYT report found, placing second after India, with 430 percent.
The country’s current total trade volume with Russia totals $6.2 billion, it said.
NATO member and EU hopeful Turkey has denounced Russia’s offensive against Ukraine, but unlike most other NATO and EU member nations, has stopped short of slapping punitive measures on Moscow and is seeking to mediate between the two warring sides in the hope of brokering a peace deal or a ceasefire.
Intensifying economic ties between Moscow and Ankara amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, is sparking fear among Western states, which are warning of the mounting risk of Ankara facing potential punitive retaliation if it assists Moscow in avoiding sanctions.
Turkey’s exports to Russia since the start of the war have also increased by 113 percent, with Turkey topping the list of countries measuring an uptick in exports. China placed second with 24 percent, the NY Times report found.
Despite the sanctions levied on Moscow by the West, Russia remains “deeply intertwined” global economy, the report said, allowing Moscow to generate “substantial sums of money as it enters its ninth month of war.”
“Attempts by Western nations to use sanctions and other measures to cripple Russia’s economy have so far had limited effects,” the report added.
As the war drags on, Russia’s long-standing economic ties with Europe are slowly become undone, giving way to new alliances as goods are being rerouted to other countries, the NY Times cited the data as showing.
Ahval