If you listen to the words of President Trump you will likely be confused about what parts he really means and what parts he is blowing air. In the decades past, what the President said and did was scrutinized and dissected by people around the world, with Trump you are never quite sure. One of the things the President said he was going to end the war between Ukraine and Russia on day one. Many people who have followed the war, find it hard to believe unless President Trump was essentially going to call Russia the winner and stop sending military support to Ukraine.

In an article by Patricia Cohen of the New York Times News Service, one of the ways the world has reacted to Russia was to impose sanctions. The sanctions included trying not to do business with Russia, for western banks with Russian accounts to place holds on the accounts (some of the interest has gone in the Ukraine war effort as more than $300 billion has a stop payment on it) and to ensure Russian athletes were not allowed to compete in international games, as well as a whole host of other activities.

Once the war is ended, and ideally it is sooner than later, what happens to the sanctions? While in the west, the idea of the sanctions was to put pressure on the Russian President, he has successfully remained in office and seems to be more powerful than before. The Russian President was hampered by lower oil and gas revenues, which sent up inflation and perhaps slowed Russian involvement in the war. Russian banks pay in excess of 21% for savings.

Similar to all organizations, alternatives have been found, they just came about more slowly. Russia has expanded trade with China and India particularly selling oil and gas to make up for the loss of European Union markets.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, for companies the sanctions are akin to regulations from the government which forces the company to do break up or pay large fines. Within the new Trump administration there are more people who wish to do less and allow companies to make their own decisions – good or bad for the consumer but should be good for the company. With all administrations there is hope for a better future, but time will tell who really benefits.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.