OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that it served “no strategic interests” for the United States to end importation of Russian oil, though continuing to do so provides President Vladimir Putin billions of dollars he can use to continue his invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken’s remarks came as bipartisan support for cutting off Russian oil imports gained wide bipartisan support in Congress because continuing to buy oil from Putin funds his war effort.
But so far, President Joe Biden has resisted, though on Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that energy sanctions remain an option and are “on the table.”
The secretary of state argued that in the short term, cutting off those imports might actually harm Americans more than Russia.
“The sanctions are designed … to have maximum impact on Russia and Putin while minimizing harm to us and our partners,” Blinken told reporters. “There’s no strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy.”
“The immediate effect would be to raise prices at the pump for Americans and to pad Russian profits with rising profits,” he argued before going on to claim that the United States is working behind the scenes to undermine Russia’s energy production capacity.
Fox News adds:
Such targeted sanctions include cutting Russia’s access to vital technologies that would allow it to continue developing its energy capabilities as well as cutting off the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to stagnate and limit Russia’s growth as an exporter.
But these sanctions will take time to have full impact despite the Biden administration touting the still-tumbling ruble (RUR) as evidence of near-term impact.
Some lawmakers have pushed for more immediate action, such as Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who introduced legislation Tuesday that would see the White House ban all Russian oil imports into the U.S.
The bill – which would specifically block the importation of petroleum and petroleum products from Russia – has been backed by Energy Committee GOP Leader Sen. John Barrasso along with at least seven other Republicans in the upper chamber.
“First and foremost, President Biden needs to restart America’s energy production and quit funding Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine by continuing to purchase crude oil from Russia,” Marshall told Fox News Digital this week.
His legislation came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would bar imports of Russian oil, though his country has not imported any Russian crude since 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“Make no mistake, if President Biden finds the courage to do this, we would without question work with him every step of the way,” Marshall noted.
Only about 3 percent of oil consumed by the U.S. comes from Russia, but nevertheless, following the invasion of Ukraine, prices have spiked domestically.
This week, gas prices topped more than $5 per gallon in some states including California and New York.
As prices soar, 25 GOP governors issued a letter Friday demanding that Biden reverse course in energy policy and allow more domestic production by re-opening of federal lands for drilling.
“As governors, we call on President Biden to reverse his policies and restore America’s energy independence for our citizens as well as our allies abroad,” their letter said.
“By removing his bans on new oil and gas development on federal lands, building the Keystone XL pipeline, and reinstating regulatory reforms to streamline energy permitting, we can protect our national energy security and sell to our friends rather than buy from our enemies—specifically Russia. Family budgets have already been stretched thin following record inflation,” the governors wrote.
One Democrat — Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia — is also on board with boosting domestic production again.
“You cannot be the superpower of the world if you have to depend on other nations to produce your energy” he told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, adding that he disagrees with the majority of his party and the president because “they have a hard time coming to grips that you’ve got to use everything you’ve got” or else you “end up like Germany did” and “in one heck of a mess.”
