Putin’s choice: The war or his people

The European Union has imposed its 12th package of sanctions against Russia, days after Russia’s central bank raised its key interest rate for the fifth time since July. There’s a connection between those events. The Bank of Russia lifted its policy rate to a staggering 16 per cent last Friday in response to inflation running at a rate of about 7.5 per cent. The West is putting the squeeze on Russia’s economy. Credit: AP Soaring prices for goods and services – egg prices, for instance, are up 40 per cent this year – and (despite capital controls and the forced repatriation of companies’ foreign exchange holdings) a 20 per cent…