The war in Ukraine is taking a heavy toll on Russia, with rising casualties and economic setbacks, former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza says.
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00:00But they know, they know very well that the toll of human life is mounting.
00:06Now granted, President Putin doesn't seem to care much about the loss of soldiers,
00:10but there's a limit, not just numerical, but also political in Russia. And the
00:14economy, as I alluded to before, is not as strong as Western observers think.
00:19Yes, the Russian economy has continued to grow, but inflation is very high. That's
00:23led to an increase in interest rates. The interest rate increase also helps the
00:28Russian banks that are forced to give loans to the defense sector. But as those
00:33interest rates increase, more and more companies are going to go bankrupt. So
00:37there's only so far Putin can go with his economy totally on a war footing.
00:42Trump understands that, and I think is going to squeeze the Russian economy now.