“at a time when the Russian economy is slowing down.”
Russia has low debt, and big cash reserves. They can easily handle a short-term downturn, especially with the direct-to-China pipeline link from the oil and gas fields of Eastern Siberia opening soon.
Meanwhile, our own “leadership” is doing all they can to raise the price of energy, which benefits Russia hugely.
Most of Russia’s money comes from oil and gas revenues, so it makes them much more vulnerable than they might seem on paper.That’s dangerous especially if the price of those commodities drop.
I’m sure you remember how President Reagan famously used that dependency to bring the Soviet Union to its knees.