Yes, President Joe Biden on Friday signed two bills extending US financial restrictions on Russia, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says: “We will continue to work on additional ways to deny them revenue.” But none of this can hit as hard as Western Europe, which is completely dependent on Russia’s oil and gas, can not stop buying it. And the war has upset markets enough to drive up prices, with Bloomberg Economics expecting Russia to earn about $ 320 billion in energy exports this year, more than a third by 2021. The United States can not force Germany and others 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 suppressing US energy production and start supporting it. According to Jim Geraghty of the National Review, Biden could announce that the United States aims to “replace Russia in world energy markets and reduce its prices.” “You do not need to comply with the sanctions if you can offer buyers a similar or better good at a lower price.” This will hurt Putin far worse than all the allegations and sanctions that the White House continues to offer.
