Why sanctions do not work.

Similarly, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea were all sanctioned under the Pressler Amendment for developing their nuclear programmes.

Not only did that law fail miserably in preventing the three countries from developing their nuclear programmes, the statutes also inadvertently laid the foundations for these three countries to establish better relations with China and Russia.

The US refused to release more than 30 advanced F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in the 1990s.

Payments for these aircrafts had already been made.

Similarly additional sanctions were imposed on arms supplies in other military areas and the overall economy as well.

However, as Pakistan's military establishment and the civilian governments of the 1990s had already decided to make Pakistan self sufficient in military supplies, a new era in partnerships with Russia and China started taking shape.

As a direct result of being snubbed by Washington in the 1990s, Pakistan now is not only a nuclear power, but is also amongst the only handful of countries in the world that can indigenously manufacture latest generation fighter jets.

Pakistan now also has the capacity of manufacturing its own armoured vehicles, tanks, assault rifles and latest state of the art deep water submarines and cruise missiles.

By the time US sanctions kicked in after the demise of the Soviet Union, Pakistan's establishment had already learnt what Ukranian people and Mr Zelensky are learning now.

That lesson being that the US's security guarantees and alliances are driven by their own political interests.

This also means that America's alliances with any non-NATO and non-European country other than Israel are generally unfaithful, ungrateful and unreliable.

Mr Putin seems to have calculated all this very well and knows well that despite short term pains, the sanctions placed by the West would only further strengthen the Russian Federation.

Mr Biden and mainstream American politicians and media miscalculated Russia's well preparedness to open up a war theatre in Europe.

Their belief that sanctions against Russia would weaken Mr Putin at home and globally, is an equally dangerous miscalculation that could backfire badly in the future.