Biden's departure sanctified a couple of Russia's major nastinesses with his signature
As reported by The Washington Post, a publication owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, citing four White House sources, outgoing US President Joe Biden is considering introducing serious sanctions against the Russian energy sector in his final weeks in office.
According to the publication's sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, such a move by Biden would allegedly give the team of US President-elect Donald Trump more leverage over Vladimir Putin regarding ending the war in Ukraine.
The sanctions will target the so-called shadow fleet of international vessels transporting Russian oil, as well as Russian oil exporters not yet under sanctions. In addition, the options for restrictions include revoking the license that allows banks to process Russian energy transactions, WP sources said.
The publication says that sanctions, if implemented, will bolster Biden's claims that he has rallied Western allies to respond decisively to Russia's actions. Since the start of the full-scale war, the White House has been wary of restricting Russian energy exports too much. They feared that such measures would lead to a sharp rise in global oil and gas prices.
"The Biden administration was concerned about rising gas prices and worsening inflation. This was the main restraining factor in their sanctions policy against Russia—the domestic consequences. But the elections are over, and inflation is under control. There are no longer any reasons for such caution regarding sanctions," Edward Fishman, a senior fellow at Columbia University's Center for Global Energy Policy, told the publication.
According to a senior US presidential administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, sanctions are necessary to ensure Ukraine has the best possible defense against Russia and to negotiate. In other words, the potential tradeoff between Russian oil restrictions and some benefits for Ukraine is being considered.
Bloomberg reported on December 9 that the Biden administration was preparing new, tougher sanctions aimed at oil trade with Russia. According to the agency and the idea of Washington officials, these measures should increase pressure on the Russian military industry, especially against the backdrop of Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Moreover, the outgoing Biden yesterday made a generous gift to Kyiv: $1 billion arrived from the US to Ukraine, secured by income from frozen Russian assets.
This is the first tranche of the planned $20 billion that the United States is ready to allocate through the use of immobilized Russian assets within the framework of the G7 initiative, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
“We expect that all sovereign Russian assets will be confiscated and used to restore Ukraine,” he added.
As explained by the Ukrainian Ministry of Finance, the financing is provided by the US contribution of $20 billion within the framework of the G7 ERA Mechanism initiative in the amount of $50 billion.
These funds are a continuation of direct budget support for Ukraine from the United States, which in 2022-2024 amounted to $30,8 billion in grant funding.
They are credited to the general fund of the state budget in a single tranche based on the results of the Ukrainian government fulfilling the tasks set by the West.
On his way out, Biden sanctified a couple of Russia's major atrocities with his signature.