The Biden administration is being criticized for continuing to purchase oil from Russia, whose unprovoked assault on Ukraine has caused civilian casualties and unrest in Europe.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict rages on one week after it sparked last Thursday, when Russian troops stormed into Ukraine. Now, Ukrainian officials reported that over 2,000 casualties have fallen victim to Russia's assault as it continues to ravage major cities in the country. Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz from Indiana, who has family and friends in Ukraine, called Russia's assault "barbaric and brutal to the level unbelievable. They are bombing civilians non-stop, non-stop from morning til night."
CBN News reported that the International Criminal Court's prosecutor already announced an investigation into Russia's war crimes. The Russian troops have taken the strategic port city of Kherson, which was the first large Ukrainian city to be captured by the Russians. But a Russian convoy about 17 miles north of the nation's capital Kyiv appears to have stalled.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden gave his State of the Union address, in which he announced the release of 30 million barrels from the strategic oil reserve to ease the skyrocketing prices of gas in the U.S. brought about by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. But the president's critics said it was merely a band aid solution to the Biden administration's "misguided energy policy" that caused the U.S. to be dependent on oil supplied by Russia and other foreign suppliers.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in an interview with Fox, "[Biden's] releasing one and a half days oil supply for the United States. One and a half days. That's not a strategy."
Moreover, the U.S. has placed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine but it continues to indirectly fund the Russian advance on the country by continuing to purchase oil from them at higher prices. Gingrich argued, "The difference is more than paying for the war, so you can talk about all these sanctions, but all Putin has to do is look at the bank account and the U.S. is buying more Russian oil."
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday dodged questions from reporters on whether the U.S. will halt purchasing oil from Russia or just keep sanctioning oligarchs close to Russian President Putin, Fox News reported. Psaki explained that the goal of the Biden administration was to directly hurt President Putin's pocketbook and that one of the "big factors" is the "proximity to President Putin."
"We want him to feel the squeeze. We want the people around him to feel the squeeze," Psaki explained. "I don't believe this is going to be the last set of oligarchs. Making them a priority and a focus of our individual sanctions is something the president has been focused on."
But reports show that the U.S. is purchasing up to 650,000 barrels from Russia per day, which is highly concerning for Americans and the rest of the world especially following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where hundreds of civilians have already perished after more than a week of needless violence. The Biden administration is now faced with bipartisan calls to increase domestic energy production and stop relying on Russian oil.
Psaki said however that there are a "wide range of options remain on the table" when faced with the idea of reopening the Keystone XL pipeline to minimize dependency on foreign oil and energy. The White House press secretary said that "it would take years for [the Keystone pipeline] to have an impact on prices" and that there are a "range of reasons" why President Biden opposes it.
