US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Ukraine’s recent drone strikes on Russian oil refineries have a “knock-on effect” that could affect the global energy situation and suggested Kyiv focus on “tactical and operational targets” instead.
“Those attacks could have a knock-on effect in terms of the global energy situation. Ukraine is better served in going after tactical and operational targets that can directly influence the current fight,” Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, April 9, Bloomberg reported.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton rebuffed Austin’s comments and said they were made for political reasons and discouraged effective Ukrainian actions.
“It sounds to me that the Biden administration doesn’t want gas prices to go up in an election year,” Cotton said.
Austin’s comments are the latest confirmation of Washington’s position on Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries, which first started circulating following a Financial Times (FT) article – citing unnamed officials – that said Washington had relayed wishes to Ukraine’s intelligence units to stop hitting Russian oil refineries for fear of rising crude prices and retaliation.
Sources quoted in the FT report also alleged the Biden administration feared domestic unrest resulting from rising oil prices that could impact current US President Joe Biden’s chances of being re-elected.
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Following the FT report, Spokesperson for the US Department of State Matthew Miller reiterated Washington’s stance that it “[does] not encourage or support Ukraine taking strikes outside its own territory” while refusing to comment on “specific conversations,” hinting that Washington was not supportive of Kyiv’s refinery strikes.
Since January, Ukraine has started to strike dozens of Russian oil refineries deep behind the front line with domestically produced drones in an attempt to curb the revenues generated by oil sales Moscow has been using to finance its war in Ukraine, all amidst the ongoing munition shortage suffered on the front in part caused by the stalled US military aid.
The West has attempted to introduce a price cap on Russian crude sales at the early stages of Moscow’s full-scale invasion to deprive it of oil-related income but to no great effect, where Moscow managed to net $11.3 billion through oil exports in October 2023 – surpassing pre-war levels – that prompted Washington to step up the sanction measures.
According to Bloomberg, Russia’s crude exports by sea in the first week of April have dropped from the year-to-date high at the end of March due to issues relating to exports through its Baltic ports, where volumes at the Primorsk and Ust-Luga ports declined by approximately 20 percent.
“The pullback followed a surge in flows from those ports in the final two weeks of March amid the Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries, which may have diverted crude into exports rather than processing,” Bloomberg reported.
In a recent Kyiv Post OpEd, strategic management consultant and investment banker Steven Kopits said that Ukrainian strikes are not driving up crude prices, and that other factors were at play that ultimately drove up oil prices, and the answer might lie in a “much needed and vastly overdue restructuring of the price cap.”
“If the crude is not refined in Russia, it will simply be exported as crude and refined elsewhere,” Kopits said.
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Comments (8)
Joe Biden is no profile in courage, but more the Lyndon Johnson of our time, timid in the face of the prospect of escalation, and also fearful of the polls should inflation spike. Donald Trump, by contrast, makes all sorts of dumb, bold moves and it actually enhances him politically. He also controls the narrative, which should strongly favor Biden. And Trump's narrative for the large part is manufactured at the Aquarium (GRU headquarters) in Moscow.
The Biden Administration is clearly not a true friend of Ukraine or Israel; this is an election year. Don't you love how they want to direct your actions??
JOHN THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED EXCELLENT INSIGHTS !!! YOU ARE MUCH APPRECIATED SIR !
DEATH TO RUSSIAN ORCS !!
@db, moron, all you do is yell like the idiot you are. Fuck you.
The Biden Administration's concern here is for the low-information, thick-headed American voter who has no clue why their gas prices rise (Russo-Ukraine War plus oil cap manipulation by Saudi Arabia), and reflexively blame the President.
Ignore it, Ukraine - and you do you. Increased productivity of oil fields in Canada and the Great Plains states of the U.S. will mitigate runaway prices before the U.S. election. Nothing to see here.
Maybe if Ukraine received all the weapons and ammunition as pledged and promised, they could end the war sooner and stop targeting oil refineries. Ukraine is fighting for survival, now it seems that they have to fight with both hands tied behind their backs? My advice to those who want Ukraine to fight with their hands behind their backs, raise the white flag and give russia whatever they want, is to take a hike. If you can't help, shut up
Letting this war drag on for more than two years will put you in a bind like this! Ukraine had Putin on the run in November 2022. Had we given them longer range missiles and other weapons then, they could very well have kept the panic in Russians ranks alive. They might have driven them out of Ukraine back then. But we preferred to manage the conflict. You know, don't "escalate." Well Putin dug in and mined everything. He's now reportedly using chemical weapons in Ukraine. That is an escalation that we're not publicly expressing any concern about. I'd say a chump leading a "minor regional power" is making this conflict more dangerous. The sooner we help Ukraine drive Putin out of Ukraine, the sooner the risk taking will end. Letting it go on interminably is not strategic thinking. It is management. That doesn't stop wars.
@Edlund, I wish there was a LIKE button for posts. 👍
Слава нації. 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 Смерть усім ворогам! 🇷🇺
Dear Putin: Come get Alaska. Watch the USA change their tune.
@John, Hi new John.
I'm the Ukraine supporting John from Canada below.
@John, and a total arrogant imbecile.
It is important to note the comment from strategic management consultant and investment banker Steven Kopits who says that "Ukrainian strikes are not driving up crude prices, and that other factors were at play that ultimately drove up oil prices".
So sorry, but no dice President Biden. Your administration's intent appears cruelly self serving. It's lack of creativity or motivation to navigate its' Ukraine aid request around putinrump's stalling minions, is similarly questionable.
If rising gas prices cost American's their democracy in the next election (ie. putinrump winning), it will be for not only an incredibly stupid reason, but also for the USA needlessly now extending this war. Had the allies helped stop putin earlier, his ability to fund putinrump's MRGA campaign would have fizzled.
Bottom line: Allies should have sent the good weapons faster. They should have supported a NATO no fly zone in Ukraine to prevent the horrendous deaths and destruction which have since ensued. The USA HAS NO RIGHT to TELL A PEOPLE BEING MURDERED to SIT THERE AND TAKE IT. They are left with few options. They now do what then can with their own drones to cost effectively save their nation in the absence of better allied support. Shame on all weak knee'd or selfish allies.
As per the recommendation of many others US and NATO military strategists, 'we the people' will continue to crowdfund Ukrainian drone attacks on russia's main source of revenue.