Vladimir Putin’s Russia is earning more from its energy exports than before invading Ukraine, and the ruble has regained its pre-war level. Tell us about those “crippling” sanctions again.
Yes, President Joe Biden signed into law two laws on Friday expanding US financial restrictions on Russia, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says, “We will continue to work on additional ways to deny them revenue.”
But none of this can hit that hard until Western Europe, which is utterly dependent on Russia’s oil and gas, can stop buying it. And the war has roiled markets enough to send prices soaring that Bloomberg Economics projects Russia will earn about $320 billion from energy exports this year, more than a third more than in 2021.
The United States cannot force Germany and company to start exploiting their own energy resources (although European voters can and should). But America can steal Russia’s export markets if Washington is willing to stop and support the suppression of US energy production.
As National Review’s Jim Geraghty puts it, Biden could announce that the United States aims to “replace Russia in world energy markets and undercut its prices. You don’t have to face penalties if you can offer buyers a similar or better product at a lower price.”
This will hurt Putin far worse than all the denunciations and sanctions the White House is offering instead.