TWO years ago, the West stunned the rest of the world by imposing unprecedented economic sanctions on Russia after Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine. Yet the euphoria in Western capitals about this response turned to disenchantment when the Russian economy did not collapse as some had anticipated.

Russia’s economic outperformance relative to expectations has been a gift to Kremlin propaganda.

“They are supposed to be smothering and pressuring us from all sides,” boasted Putin recently. In his telling, a stabilising currency and the return of growth after the initial impact of sanctions demonstrates the invincibility of a Russia supposedly under economic attack from the West.