In the Cold War, dealing with Soviets was unthinkable. Now, the West is complacent, there is even a term for it, Schröderizatsiya. See this opinion piece by the former Estonian president [1].
[1] https://news.err.ee/1608362130/toomas-hendrik-ilves-alexei-n...
What about China, should they be sanctioned too?
[Many make the claim that sanctions mostly affect civilians so for example are against Iran Sanctions, etc.]
Although really the question of banking money from unacceptable foreigners is an old one, unresolved throughout the 20th century. It's too convenient for the West to really give up on, so a short list is maintained of the "definitely unacceptable", but there's no systematic criteria for what "unacceptable" really is.
It's quite clear from the lack of UK response to the Salisbury poisonings that the UK is financially compromised into indifference, for example.
Besides sanctions, we should also seek to undermine and delegitimize those governments by supporting dissident movements and other covert actions.
https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/new-icij-i...
https://www.lawfareblog.com/how-international-anti-money-lau...
Enforcement of course is a perpetual cat-and-mouse game in which the cats are underfunded and the mice have money to burn.
So does the Russian elite as you say, even Putin himself. The US's currency is the reserve currency of the world and the currency most commerce is done in so western banks are used. They also are much more stable than banks in their own countries where other elites could steal their money. This doesn't mean that the US or the west is somehow controlling their countries.
The goal with these sorts of comments is to try and get liberal democracies to stop engaging in the rest of the world. If you keep getting told it’s your fault eventually you say “fine I’m done” and then that’s when they win.
Yes, in the sense that Aleksander Dugins foundations of geopolitics exists and is taught in military schools in Russia. It proposes - among other tactics, exactly this approach. Splitting hairs, gaslighting and exhaustion.
It's worth noting that this special book was published during the reign of Yeltsin, a Clinton puppet installed and protected by various Western agencies. That could be a reason there is some consideration of similar actions in the opposite direction.