US President Joe Biden visited Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, on the 20th and announced that he would announce additional sanctions against Russia within this week.
On the same day that Biden arrived in Kiev, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a conversation with US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln two days ago to oppose the’balloon incident’ and arrived in Moscow heading to Russia.
The New York Times commented on Wang Yi's visit to Moscow, saying, "While US officials want Wang and other Chinese officials to support what Putin sees as an arrogant, hypocritical and declining America, President Xi discloses nuclear weapons use against Russia. “As China is a stronger player this time around, US officials publicly told Xi Jinping’s government over the weekend not to provide much-needed ‘lethal assistance’ to the growing Russian military.” I warned you,” he reported.
The preliminary GDP for 2022 announced by the Russian Statistical Office on the 20th was a 2.1% decrease from the previous year, lower than the -7.8% in 2009 due to the US financial crisis and -2.7% in 2020 due to the spread of the corona, Reuters reported.
Russia's economy last year showed a limited impact due to a smaller decline than the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, despite escalating economic sanctions from the US and Europe.
The Central Bank of Russia forecasted inflation and economic growth in the first quarter of this year to be 3.6% and -2.4%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. .
Last year's economic sanctions against Russia by the West mitigated the economic shock as sharp rises in the price of crude oil and natural gas, the main export products, compensated for the decline in consumer spending and production activity.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted in April of last year that Russia's GDP would fall by 8.5 percent in 22 years, when economic sanctions were strengthened, but the forecast was wrong and achieved a significant rise.
Rush's economic performance over the past year was down 1.8% in personal consumption, which accounts for nearly half of GDP. In the aftermath of economic sanctions, clothing stores concentrated in foreign brands and automobile factories in Europe, including Hyundai Motor, were suspended or closed, leading to companies withdrawing and sluggish domestic consumption.
On the other hand, the increase in GDP was accompanied by a 2.8% increase in defense spending, which is government spending.
Russia's economic growth last year fell 12.7% in wholesale and retail trade by industry, and 2.4% in manufacturing, which accounted for a large share.
On the other hand, agriculture, forestry and fisheries increased by 6.6%, supported by wheat harvest, while mining including resource extraction increased by 0.4%.
Yomiuri, citing data from the Russian Ministry of Finance, said Russia's oil and gas imports rose 28 percent, the largest increase in 22 years.
The war in Ukraine caused international oil and gas prices to soar, and lower prices appear to be the result of China and India significantly increasing their imports.
The economic growth rate of the eurozone (19 euro countries) led by economic sanctions in the special war soared to 3.5% last year after the war in Ukraine, higher than the 2.1% growth rate of the US and 3.0% growth rate of China.
In 2021, China's growth rate was 8.4%, the United States' 5.9%, and Europe's lead was the first time in 48 years since 1974, when the United States' defeat in the Vietnam War was imminent.