In an interview with “PBS News Hour” that aired Friday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the Biden administration is looking forward to the large-scale sanctions on Russian energy that it imposed on Friday. “If we had imposed sanctions on Russian oil 18 months ago, when oil prices and gasoline prices were high, that would mean higher prices at the pump and hurt American workers.'' I would have given you.”
“Today you are imposing the largest sanctions ever on Russia's energy sector, including two of Russia's largest oil producers and It also includes ships that make up Russia's shadow fleet, which officials say will cost Russia billions of dollars per month. Why take this step now? And why didn't you take it sooner? ”
Mr. Sullivan replied: “If we had sanctioned Russian oil 18 months ago, when oil and gas prices were high, it would have meant higher prices at the pump and hurt people working in the United States. has fallen significantly. The global oil market is in very low demand. So what we're giving the incoming team, the incoming administration, is to prepare for diplomacy without attacking the American people. real leverage in negotiations.”
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