Sanctions against Russia are 'draining' country's economy and Putin's 'war machine,' European Commission president says

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that the unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia over its war with Ukraine are "draining" the Russian economy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin's "war machine."

"Ukraine must win this war," von der Leyen said during an address at the World Economic Forum's annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland. 

"And Putin's aggression must be a strategic failure," she added. "We will do everything we can to help Ukrainians prevail and retake the future into their hands."

Von der Leyen noted that the sweeping economic sanctions against Russia by the European Union, as well as the United States and the United Kingdom, are crippling the Russian economy.

"Our sanctions and the self-sanctioning by companies themselves are draining Russia's economy and thus draining the Kremlin's war machine," von der Leyen said. 

Trade experts have recently said that Russia's economy is "imploding" as exports to the sanctioned country crash in the face of Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Insider previously reported.