White House spokesman Jen Psaki condemned the Russian president Vladimir Putin“Barbaric tactics” on Tuesday, and insisted that energy sanctions are still “on the table” if Moscow continues its brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Hours before the president Joe BidenIn a speech on the state of the union in the US Capitol, Psaki defended his response to Putin’s attack in an interview with Fox News.
She would not say the United States was prepared to go so far as to call Putin a war criminal, but said the administration was “watching closely” reports of devastating Russian attacks killing civilians in Ukraine.
Republicans, meanwhile, are urging the president to take action to increase oil and gas production as a way to counter Russia’s influence on the world economy.
Late last week, Russia’s autocratic leader launched an attack on neighboring Ukraine and ignored its democratically elected government as a “Nazi” perpetrator of “genocide.” Since then, Kyiv has resisted impressive resistance, as the Kremlin’s ground, air and sea attacks are inches closer to the nation’s capital.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky called Russia’s attack on the city of Kharkov on Monday a “war crime” and “state terrorism of the Russian Federation” in a video message recorded on Tuesday. Zelensky said Ukraine’s second-largest city has “dozens of victims” following an attack on Freedom Square.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki defends President Joe Biden’s measures against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hours before the state of the Union
The civil attack, which killed three children, came amid an attempt at peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
Most recently, Ukrainian authorities claimed that an attack on Kyiv on Tuesday afternoon at Eastern time struck a Holocaust memorial.
Asked if the Biden administration shared the view that Putin was a war criminal, Psaki said officials had seen a number of reports “which are appalling about the use of barbaric tactics, whether cluster bombs or other tactics we have seen that can be classified.” as a war crime.
“I do not have any new classification for you from here, but we certainly work closely with our partners around the world, the president is also the national security team and we will closely monitor and evaluate this issue,” she said.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan has announced that The Hague will launch an investigation into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine on Monday.
Psaki on Tuesday did not say whether Biden would force the State Department to launch its own investigation into war crimes.
“Again, this is something that we will need confirmation of, we will have to judge. The classification of a war crime is obviously serious – a serious decision that needs to be made. It goes through lawyers, as you noted, Psaki explained.
An armed man stands next to the remains of a Russian military car in Bucha, near the capital Kyiv, Ukraine
An explosion is seen in the TV tower, against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 1. Ukrainian authorities say a Russian coup has struck a Holocaust memorial in Kyiv
“And we will also work closely with the international community. So I don’t have an update on that at the moment, but there’s no doubt … that we’re seeing barbaric tactics being used. This is appalling, this is worrying, and we will certainly look at it closely.
The international community, including the United States, has buried Russia under a mountain of condemnation since the invasion began. More than 100 diplomats from 40 countries left en masse on Tuesday during a UN speech by Kremlin Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The West has also responded to Putin with a number of historic economic sanctions, many of which have never imposed on a Russian-sized economy. These include financial blockades of the country’s largest banks, central financial institutions, removal from the global banking system SWIFT and individual sanctions against Kremlin officials, including Putin himself.
However, sanctions against Russian institutions and individuals largely avoid targeting the oil and gas industry.
Russia is the second largest exporter of oil after Saudi Arabia and is the world’s largest producer of natural gas. The European Union currently relies on Russia for 40 percent of its natural gas. About 60 percent of Russia’s oil exports go to Europe.
“I would say that the president shares the concerns about the impact on gas prices and energy prices for the American people. That’s why a number of options remain on the table, “Psaki said on Tuesday.
Hours later, the United States and 30 other members of the International Energy Agency agreed to release 60 million barrels of their oil reserves to ease unbelievable prices around the world.
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall called on Biden to go a step further by introducing legislation Tuesday that would ban the United States from buying Russian oil.
“First, President Biden must restart energy production in America and give up funding for Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine by continuing to buy crude oil from Russia,” Marshall said in a statement.
“Under the previous administration, our nation was energy independent, but President Biden turned the tide and turned hostile nations like Russia into an American gas station.”
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called on Biden to “immediately undo his failed Green New Deal policies, take action to increase U.S. energy production and independence, and stop buying oil and other energy resources.” from Russia.’
Civilians train to throw Molotov cocktails to defend the city as Russian invasion of Ukraine continues in Zhytomyr, Ukraine
Republican lawmakers call on Biden to do more to increase US fossil fuel production as a way to counter Russia’s economic influence
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton has asked Biden to reopen the shut down Keystone XL pipeline, which the president closed last year due to environmental concerns.
“How about we impose these sanctions, but we are removing all those restrictions on American oil and gas production so we can start drilling into federal lands again and signing new leases,” Cotton said last week.
“So we can reopen the Keystone Pipeline, which will supply more oil to America every day from Canada than we import every day from Russia.”
But the Biden administration does not believe such policies will help, Psaki told Fox on Tuesday.
“This Keystone pipeline will take years to influence prices. Obviously, there are a number of reasons why the president opposes, but he didn’t work, he doesn’t work. It will take years, “the spokesman said.
“So yes, we all want to take steps to deal with any increase in gas prices that affects the American people, but we need to be very clear about which policies will and will not help. And over time, we absolutely need to reduce our dependence and something you see that European countries are also taking steps.