Vladimir Putin can draw all of the lines in the sand that he wants, but with his army failing mightily in Ukraine, the Kremlin’s bark has proved far worse than its bite.
And so, despite the ailing Russian dictator’s constant whining about the sanctions that the world is placing on him and his nation, the US is forging ahead with a blockbuster ban on energy imports designed to cripple the country’s economy.
President Joe Biden announced a ban on the U.S. import of all Russian energy in the latest effort to ratchet up sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy.”
“Russian oil will no longer be accepted at U.S. ports,” the president said in remarks Tuesday at the White House. “We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war.”
And while it wouldn’t be a sudden shift, Europe could be headed in that direction as well.
The president said he made the decision in consultation with European allies but added they are not in a position to join the U.S. in banning Russian energy imports. He said the U.S. is working closely with European allies to develop a “long-term strategy” to reduce their dependence on Russian energy.
Economists have suggested that Russia’s economy could collapse in as little as 8 weeks, should they continue their failing invasion of Ukraine – a “genocide” that has a vast majority of the civilized world ready to blackball Moscow for good.
