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Russians living in London and Paris are already the most anti-Putin/United Russia electorate. We would be hitting at the pro-West and westernized Russians, not
by vdsk 5y ago
Russians living in London and Paris are already the most anti-Putin/United Russia electorate. We would be hitting at the pro-West and westernized Russians, not to mention that we would have to carve exceptions all the time for political dissidents fleeing Russia.
The second main reason is that it would remove the need for Putin to impose capital controls since the main place these funds would go are western banks.
I understand the sentiment and why this might sound a good idea, but it would be very counterproductive.
- hajkrem 5y agoLiving in London/Paris, earning well (~being affected by the sanction), having "anti-Putin opinion" yet doing nothing lacks any merit. Who else would do the actual work of changing the regime if not the locals?
- vdsk 5y agoWhat do you want them to do? Just go rot in Moscow's prisons? You clearly over-estimate the level of leverage the citizenship has over its government, even in democracies. This is not a democracy. On that note, do you also want to sanction the Syrian refugees? They're not personally storming the presidential palace over Damascus.