According to the Russian mass media, sanctions imposed on the country have had a mixed effect on its economy. Some state-owned TV channels claim that sanctions helped the economy, while others report that the economy was not affected by them. Russian news media frequently cite their foreign counterparts’ articles that call the imposed ban ineffective. Thus, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung has recently published an article saying that restrictive measures have not been as damaging as expected due to the position of China, India, Turkey, and Brazil. “Countries such as China, India, Brazil, and Turkey either did not join Western sanctions at all or did so only partially. The expected financial crisis did not occur. GDP did not fall as dramatically as expected. The Russian currency quickly recovered after the fall,” the article says. The newspaper notes that the Russian economy has maintained stability, despite the pressure from punitive measures. According to the article, the Russian economy had been declining before the bans were introduced. It is also reported that some US allies are turning down Washington's requests for boycotting Russia.