TASS: Russia Preparing Sanctions To Hit West

Russia's state-owned TASS reporting comments attributed to upper house speaker Valentina Matvienko that Moscow is preparing sanctions intended to 'hit the West's weak points'.

• Given the clear reluctance of many EU leaders to hit the Russian energy sector with punitive sanctions, a Russian squeeze on oil and gas supplies or a hike to prices would be felt in the pockets of EU households already struggling with high inflation.
• Another potential source of pain for the West would come in the form of restrictions on the export of grain and other agricultural commidities. Russia and Ukraine account for 29% of global wheat exports, 80% of global sunflower oil exports, and 13% of the global total of potash, nitrogen, and phostphate fertilisers. Restrictions on the export of these to the West could push up food prices at a time of already-high inflation.