What is Russia getting in exchange for their gas and oil now that they've been cut off from the Western financial system?
As far as I can tell both of these things are currently true:
- Russia has been cut off from a large chunk of the Western financial system
- The EU is still buying Russian gas and oil
But how does this work in practice? When Russia sells their gas to Europe, what do they get in return? The usual answer is "dollars/euros" which Russia then trades for various goods made in Europe. But with the financial sanctions being so strong, it seems like buying European goods is now much more difficult? If so, what's the incentive for Russia to not shut off their gas/oil pipelines tomorrow?