Vladimir Putin’s plans to freeze Europe melt away with warm weather, as his economy withstands bracing winds

Tom Keatinge, founding director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, said shrinking Russia's war chest was never going to be a fast process, due to the country's resources. "It's just a fact of life that we are going to continue funding the Russian war machine for the foreseeable future," he told the ABC. "But we must do everything we possibly can to restrict that. "Things like the oil price cap are clearly welcome as a next step down the road to reducing the amount of income Russia earns."