Qualcomm finally stops its sales with Russia

March 17, 2022

2 min read

Qualcomm Inc announced on Wednesday that it has stopped selling its equipment to Russian entities to comply with US sanctions imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine. Nate Tibbits, the company’s senior vice president of government affairs, revealed the company’s action in a tweet in response to a criticism by Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Fedorov urged Tibbits to cease supplying Qualcomm products to Russia, claiming that they “inadvertently help this government to slaughter thousands of Ukrainians.”

Fedorov expressed gratitude for the gesture and offered that if the chipmaker wanted to help, it may give satellite phones to Ukrainian rescuers. While the invasion has enraged Western nations and caused some American corporations to suspend operations in Russia, Russia has described its actions in Ukraine as a “special operation.”

Qualcomm said at its stockholder meeting earlier this month that revenue from Russia and Ukraine accounted for less than 1% of total revenue.

In other news, President Vladimir Putin claims that the “special military operation” in Ukraine was required because the US was using Ukraine to threaten Russia, and Russia needed to defend itself against Ukraine’s “genocide” of Russian-speaking people. Ukraine believes it is battling for its survival and dismisses Putin’s charges of genocide.

Claims that the West wants to pull Russia apart are false, according to the West. Despite sanctions, Russia claims that it can thrive in the absence of what it sees as a deceptive and decadent West led by the United States. It claims that its attempt to create links with the West following the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 has failed and that it will instead focus on developing ties with other nations such as China.