On March 10, according to CNN, Amazon said on social media: " We have suspended retail shipments to customers in Russia and Belarus, and we will no longer accept new Russian and Belarusian products. Belarusian AWS customers and third-party sellers on Amazon.”
"We have also suspended access to Prime Video for Russian customers, and we are no longer accepting new orders for New World, the only video game we sell directly in Russia."
Sanctions against Russia escalate, many multinational companies withdraw from Russia
A few days ago, Sony Interactive Entertainment Co., Ltd. announced that it would stop shipping and operations in Russia; Japanese game company Nintendo also announced that it would suspend the supply of its products to Russia.
According to CNN statistics, as of March 8, large companies that have announced to suspend their business in Russia due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine have covered energy, aviation, technology, finance, entertainment and other fields.
Recently, the United States, Canada and many European countries have successively announced a series of increasingly stringent sanctions against Russia. In addition to governments, multinational companies in various fields have also joined the sanctions against Russia.
Among them, not only large energy companies such as Shell and Exxon Mobil have announced that they have begun to withdraw from their joint ventures in Russia, but also aviation giants such as Boeing and Airbus have announced the suspension of support services to Aeroflot.
A number of credit card organizations, including Visa and Mastercard, have also announced the suspension of their business in Russia. Even the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment of the United States have announced that they will suspend the release of their theatrical films in Russia.
In terms of technology, multinational technology companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Intel have successively announced that they will stop selling products and services in Russia. Companies such as Google and Twitter have blocked or restricted Russian media such as Sputnik and Russia Today TV on their platforms. published content.
According to relevant statistics and reports quoted by the Russian Satellite News Agency, from 2014 to the 7th of this month, Russia has been subject to a total of 5,532 sanctions, becoming the country with the largest number of sanctions in the world.
For all kinds of for-profit multinational companies, participating in sanctions against Russia is tantamount to giving up the Russian market. Some analysts pointed out that it is obviously not the interests that prompted them to make the decision to sanction. The reason behind it is the political consideration made by following the decision of the Western countries.
Sanctions against Russia ripple across global economy
The impact of the epidemic has not yet recovered. In response to the escalating sanctions against Russia, international public opinion has also expressed concern, believing that the sanctions will not only affect Russia alone, but the global economy will also be shaken.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on the 5th that sanctions against Russia will not only have a significant spillover effect on other countries, but also have a significant impact on the global economy and financial markets.
Affected by the situation in Russia and Ukraine, global oil prices have remained high recently, hitting historical highs for many times. The price of Brent crude oil futures in London broke through the 2012 peak of $128 a barrel in intraday trading on the 7th of this month.
Ethan Harris, head of global economic research at Bank of America, believes that the loss of 5 million barrels a day of Russian oil could send oil prices soaring to $200 a barrel and slow global economic growth. Some experts pointed out that the US sanctions on Russia's oil and gas exports are at risk of further triggering the global energy crisis and the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
According to an analysis report released by the International Air Transport Association on the 7th, if the West insists on sanctions against Russia in the aviation field, the global aviation industry will be severely impacted again. Airlines may pass on fuel costs to passengers by raising ticket prices, which could dampen demand for air travel amid high inflation.
According to a Reuters analysis, the closure of the airspace caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has affected the global air cargo industry, or caused the air freight rate, which has risen sharply during the new crown epidemic, to soar again, and further impact the global supply chain.
In addition, according to the Russian technology media CNEWS, a number of foreign Internet service operators led by the United States have recently cut off services to Russian customers on the grounds of sanctions, a move that will directly affect Russia’s network connections to the global Internet. The US "New York Times" published an article on the 7th that Russia is being blocked by the global Internet and falling into digital isolation, and the decision of multinational technology companies to withdraw from Russia is also contributing to this "digital barrier" that isolates Russia and the world.
