Russia Ukraine war, page-38358

You can't have it both ways.

In the first few weeks after 24 Feb 2022, the Roubles tanked to 150 to 1 USD. And back then, there was no SWIFT access as well, for all the sanctioned goods. Was it a Potemkin then?

Btw, SWIFT is NOT an International Banking System - its just a messaging system. Russia have their own system and billions of dollars in trades are now going through that messaging system.

In any case, what turned around the 150:1 exchange to 52:1, was the introduction of the gas for roubles payment system.

Since then, the Roubles have appreciated immeasurably.

The Russian Central bank have dropped interest rate from 20% (at the start of sanctions), to 9%. And the Rouble continues to rise.