The European Union's latest sanctions against Russia — as punishment for the country's full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine — could have a significant impact on Russia's treasury department, according to John Jordan, a former U.S. Navy senior intelligence officer.
While serving as a guest on Tuesday's "American Agenda" program, Jordan told Newsmax hosts Shaun Kraisman and Katrina Szish that Russia's revenue department relies on foreign oil assets to accommodate approximately 50% of Russia's annual budget, and up to 20% of the country's Gross Domestic Product figures.
In other words, it might be difficult for Russian President Vladimir Putin to pretend like effective sanctions wouldn't put a crimp in Russia's economy.
"The Russians aren't really going to be able to replace the European (oil) market," says Jordan.
The rationale: China's oil terminals are currently backed up. Plus, even if the Chinese wanted to purchase Russian oil at a discount, "they still need to keep their Middle East suppliers happy," says Jordan.
The same holds true for India, which must play a delicate political game when appeasing various oil-producing countries.
As such, "if these (EU sanctions) hold together, it could be a real dent in the Russian economy," said Jordan.
With Russia's economy in flux, Jordan speculates that Kremlin officials will invariably attempt to undermine the unity of NATO countries, including the United States.
Case in point: Recently, a Russian politician openly wondered what it would take — from a military perspective — to wipe out the United States' two coastal regions, via missile attacks.
In the meantime ...
Jordan says the Russians will likely dismiss the contents of a Mirror report from Monday, claiming the Russian army could be on the verge of "collapse" in its war with Ukraine, after reportedly losing 30,000 troops.
As part of that, Kremlin officials might seek to debunk the narrative of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy morphing from establishing the "groundwork to some sort of concession" to potentially winning the war (citing the Mirror's reporting) — over the span of just a few days.
(As a point of reference, Jordan says U.S. intelligence reports of the Russia-Ukraine war have a typical lag time of 12-24 hours.)
"The (Ukraine-Russia ground) fighting is in a new place right now," says Jordan, regarding the Russians' newfound adaptability with the Ukraine's Donbas region.
That means "shorter supply lines for the Russians," but also a greater focus on "pulverizing a target, and inching (forward) with new troops."
Jordan added: "The Russians are actually gaining some ground" with its most recent offensive.
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