Russian President Vladimir Putin, 69, said any effort by the U.S. or EU to set price caps on Russian oil and natural gas would boomerang, driving the market to new heights. EU and U.K. citizens know all about higher prices with petroleum and natural gas soaring 300% since the Feb. 24 Ukraine War. President Joe Biden, 79, has done everything possible to deny that the Ukraine war spurred the runaway inflation now spreading over every conceivable U.S. commodity, making life hard for anyone but the superrich. “An attempt to limit prices by administrative means is just ravings, it’s sheer nonsense,” Putin told an economic forum in Vladivostok, near the Chinese border. Since Biden wrecked U.S,-Russian and U.S.-Chinese relations, the two nuclear-armed superpowers have joined a military and economy alliance, assuring that Biden’s crippling sanctions fail.
Putin left no uncertainty in the Kremlin’s mission in Ukraine, designed to protect Russian speakers in the Donbass area of southeastern Ukraine. Putin finds himself in a pitched battle with the White House who’s been supplying Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky with unlimited cash-and-lethal-arms, all against Kremlin warnings that started the Feb. 24 “technical military operation.” Before the invasion, Putin asked Biden for months to set down and resolve security in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Biden told Putin his requests were all “non-starters.” So when the invasion happened Feb. 24, Biden insisted it was “unprovoked and unjustified,” ignoring the opportunity to resolve the crisis on the Ukraine border diplomatically. Biden continue to arm Ukraine like it was a puppet U.S. state, telling the Kremlin that it’s national security concerns were worthless.
Biden’s colossal miscalculation in the Ukraine War is that Putin would roll-over once Biden supplied lethal weapons to Ukraine. None the Western alliance finds itself embarrassed that all of the sanctions have actually increase Russia’s total revenue from petroleum and natural gas in 2022. Biden thought the threat of crippling sanction would deter Putin from invading Ukraine. But that turned out false, as was the White House expectations to damage the Russian economy. Endless numbers of White House and Kiev officials have said that Russia is on the verge of economic collapse because of the Ukraine invasion. All the Western propaganda, including fake claims about Putin’s alleged terminal illness, all turned out wrong because Putin’s in a stronger position economically today than he was at the start of the Ukraine War, finding new customers for his energy supplies.
Talking about new price caps on Russian energy was met with defiance at the economic forum in Vladivostok. “Will they make political decisions violating the contracts?” Putin asked. “In that case, we will just halt supplies if it contradicts our economic interests. We won’t supply any gas, oil, diesel oil or coal,” Putin said, serving notice to the EU that they are their own worst enemies. EU officials have gone along with Biden’s Russian oil embargo, causing shortages and spiraling prices in the EU. Only recession has mitigated the price of energy products, as consumer demand diminishes when consumers have no cash to spend on energy. Supply-and-demand has always controlled energy markets. When the EU decided to boycott Russian oil and natural gas, it accounted for some 30% of the total supply, compared with only 10% in the U.S.
Putin confirmed that demand for oil and natural gas is so high in Asian markets, he doesn’t need revenue from the EU, now that they’ve joined the U.S. in battling the Russian Federation. “The demand is so high on global markets that we won’t have any problem selling,” Putin said, reminding the EU., U.K and U.S. that the hardship they’re experiencing with energy is all their own doing. No one said that all U.S. allies must back Biden’s proxy war against the Russian Federation, playing a dangerous game of chicken on the European Continent. Putin said he’s had problems getting Siemens, a German company, to replace a turbine on the Nord Stream I pipeline, an old standby for delivering natural gas to Europe. Putin said that if German Chancellor Olaf Scholz would give the green light to the $11-billion Nord Stream II pipeline, Putin would guarantee German supplies.
Biden’s Russian sanctions have boomerang driving inflation in the U.S., EU and U.K. Putin acknowledged that there’s plenty of demand in Asia for Russian energy, despite the U.S., EU and U.K.’s attempt to harm the Russian economy. “Russia has resisted the economic, financial and technological aggression of the West,” Putin said. “There has been a certain polarization in the world and inside the country, but I view it as a positive thing. Everything unnecessary, harmful, everything that has prevented us from going forward will be rejected,” Putin said, not sounding like a man on his last legs. If you listen to Ukraine’s propaganda, Putin was near death or revolution. White House officials should heed Putin’s statements because the Ukraine War only compounds Kiev’s problems, offering no way out of the current crisis. Only by coming to the peace table, can Zelensky have prayer to save Ukraine.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
