How is this not bigger news?
Reuters's @SteveHolland1: "Targeting the Russian energy industry is totally on the table? is that what you are saying, Daleep?
WH's Daleep Singh: "What I'm saying that our measures were not designed to disrupt–in any way–the current flow of energy from Russia to the world." pic.twitter.com/IqkxZTGaKp
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 24, 2022
Come again?
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Daleep Singh, national security adviser and National Economic Council director, described the package as potentially “the most consequential ever levied in history.” Measures include freezing assets that touch the U.S. financial system at top Russian banks, restricting investors from financing for 13 Russian-owned companies and penalizing “Putin’s kleptocracy and their family members those who shared in the Kremlin’s corrupt games, and stored their wealth in yachts and luxury condos and fancy cars.”
“We’ve intentionally scoped our sanctions to deliver severe impact on the Russian economy, while minimizing the cost to the U.S. as well as our allies,” Mr. Singh said. “To be clear, our sanctions are not designed to cause any disruption to the current flow of energy from Russia to the world.”
See, now this creates an interesting issue: you really could have expected the EU to start ignoring/cancelling sanctions on Russia within a year, sooner if the Fall and Winter are cold, because they need that Russian energy. But, if sanctions are not hitting Russia’s energy sector, they’re mostly toothless. And pointless
In response to President Putin's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, the United States, along with Allies and partners, is imposing severe and immediate economic costs on Russia.
Read more: https://t.co/L83Q2uFwKx pic.twitter.com/kpxfNmQvxM
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 24, 2022
Leaving their energy sector alone isn’t particularly severe. Further up in the article Senator Pat Toomey said
“While the sanctions announced today are a small step in the right direction, I fear they will be inadequate to deter Putin from further aggression. By failing to impose significant sanctions on the Russian oil and gas industry, which accounts for the majority of all Russian exports, the administration is intentionally leaving the biggest industry in Russia’s economy virtually untouched,” Mr. Toomey said in a statement late Thursday.
But
That approach would disrupt global energy prices and inflict damage on both the American and European economies, argue energy and trade experts.
“It’s important to send a message to Russia, where we have to be careful though is that we don’t undermine ourselves by impacting what happens in the global oil market,” said Frank Maisano, of Bracewell LLC, a Washington-based firm that represents energy and utility clients.
They aren’t wrong. And the NY Times Editorial Board notes
Mr. Biden stopped short of two especially tough punishments — personal sanctions against Mr. Putin and excluding Russia from the SWIFT system of global money transfers. The latter in particular would do immediate and grave damage to the Russian economy. But it would also damage the countries with which it trades, including the European Union members and the United States. Mr. Biden said that all such sanctions remained on the table.
And, let’s be honest, sanctions won’t stop Putin, and this will all be forgotten about in a year or so, just like Crimea and Georgia.
You know what would help? Let America drill on our own soil, get our own damned energy.
Read: Good News: Most Severe Sanctions Ever Won’t Impact “Flow Of Energy From Russia” »