White House press secretary explained at the press briefing on Friday that the reason why the Biden administration has not yet ordered sanctions on Russia’s energy sector is because “sanctions are designed to hurt Russia’s economy, not our economy”:
Psaki on the WH avoiding sanctioning the Russian energy sector: “Sanctions are designed to hurt Russia’s economy, not our economy.” Not “off the table,” but don’t want to impact Americans or hike energy prices in ways that redound to Moscow’s financial benefit.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) February 25, 2022
And she argued higher energy prices would just enrich Vladimir Putin:
Jen Psaki: “The other factor here on the energy sector is that starting out with energy could actually benefit President Putin and pad his pockets, because given high oil & gas prices, cutting off Russian oil & gas could drive prices up to Putin’s benefit.”
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) February 25, 2022
Weird. They never made this argument when arguing for sanctions on Venezuela or Iran:
I don't remember the Biden administration making this argument with Iran or Venezuela | #OOTT https://t.co/9JoleFuXMM
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) February 25, 2022
And if team Biden is so worried about gas prices, why don’t they do more to, you know, allow for oil and gas drilling in America?
Just an incredible turn of events that Biden's war on American energy is preventing them from taking the necessary steps to actually hinder Putin's war on Ukraine.
They paused new oil and gas leases… YESTERDAY.https://t.co/dTlOAeCfuc https://t.co/QXMEujsUtM
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) February 25, 2022
Anyway, the gas — and Russia’s lifeline — continues to flow:
Preliminary indications for Saturday are that Russian gas flows into the EU (via Ukraine) will rise further, potentially hitting a 2-month high. European benchmark gas prices down today ~32% to €90 per MWh, near the level they were before the invasion. Capitalism in times of war https://t.co/qjvQh9BNLf
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) February 25, 2022
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