A REMINDER THAT SANCTIONS RARELY WORK AND EVEN LESS OFTEN AS INTENDED: Russian LNG exports to Europe surge. “Just yesterday, we looked at how the sanctions on Russia largely seem to be failing and potentially backfiring, at least thus far. Now, more evidence of this trend is coming to light. One of the biggest issues involved in waging economic warfare against Russia has been the complications caused by Russia’s position in the global energy market. Energy exports are a huge part of the Russian economy, so cutting them off would put significant pressure on the Kremlin. But as one of the world’s leading suppliers, particularly when it comes to natural gas, there aren’t enough replacements for those products available so we’ve largely had to leave them alone. As a result, not only are Russian exports failing to be dampened, they’re actually increasing and the country is on track to set an all-time record for Liquified Natural Gas exports.”