President Vladimir Putin is finding out the hard way that Russia can’t accelerate economic growth and build barricades to limit the fallout from future U.S. sanctions at the same time.

The nation’s policy makers have done a good job of delivering him the latter, by cutting spending, keeping monetary policies tight and funneling excess oil revenues into reserves. But data due as early as Tuesday are likely to show that it’s all coming at the expense of economic growth.

The economy may have expanded just 1.4 percent in the third quarter from a year ago after gaining 1.9 percent in the previous three months, according to a Bloomberg survey. Putin pledged after his re-election in March to accelerate growth to a level that exceeds the global average of 3.7 percent.

“Growth should be higher, but they are preparing for complete financial isolation,” said Elina Ribakova, a visiting research fellow at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels. “They now have almost no reliance on external borrowing.”

Putin’s growth ambitions have fallen by the wayside as the sanctions noise from Washington grows louder amid an investigation into alleged election interference. Faced with proposals in Congress that include curbs on sovereign debt and state-owned banks, and still mopping up the fallout from penalties imposed in April, Russia’s policy makers have chosen to play it extra safe.