Some small signs of hope emerged Tuesday after peace talks held between Ukraine and Russia led to Russia saying it will scale back military operations in and around Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv. But world leaders remain skeptical that this is an actual concession given that Russia’s military has struggled to make any real gains in that region.
In the U.S., some people have decided to boycott Russian products in a show of solidarity with Ukraine. But are those individual protests hurting the Russian economy — or hurting New Jerseyans who have nothing to do with the war?
Roger Verma, owner of a Lukoil gas station franchise in Newark, says business is down, and that’s hurting Americans. His franchise buys American gasoline processed less than 10 miles away at the Bayway refinery, which is distributed by an American-owned subsidiary of Lukoil.
“The people who are getting caught up in all of this are the employees. There could be a potential loss of up to six hundred to twelve hundred jobs on account of this kind of a boycott,” said Parul Jain, associate professor of professional practice with the finance and economics department at Rutgers Business School.
