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Mandalore76 on 09 March 2022
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Machiavellian said:
Mandalore76 said:

And all it took was two weeks of war and atrocities for him to do it.  It's sad that it took Ukrainian officials publicly pointing out that the US and its allies were basically funding Russia's war effort by continuing to buy their invader's main export despite sanctioning everything else.

It's the right move, but it shouldn't have required Ukraine begging/pleading for it to happen.

Lets put this more in perspective.  While it may seem easy to make this decision its really not all that simple.  As people forget, the Biden Administration was actively making deals with multiple nations to make sure that putting sanctions on Russian oil would not leave the US and also EU in a serious situation where we are at 10 dollars a gallon or without oil for EU since they are so dependent.  While it may seem that the administration was sitting on their hands its actually not correct.  Its like leaving a job without actually having another one lined up.  The administration needed to make deals and shift resources and thus allow them to make this move without to much cost in the short term.  Long term of course would be more investment in renewal energy.

Doesn't look like that has been going well.

Leaders in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) declined calls with President Biden as the war in Ukraine intensified, Middle East and U.S. officialstold The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

"There was some expectation of a phone call, but it didn't happen," a U.S. official told the Journal regarding a call between Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. "It was part of turning on the spigot [of Saudi oil]."

UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed also declined a call from Biden, according to the officials.

Officials told the outlet that U.S. relations with the two Gulf countries have been strained over the Biden administration's lack of support in the war in Yemen and the revived negotiations concerning the Iran nuclear deal.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE both said they will not produce more oil than agreed on by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the Journal noted.

Saudi, UAE leaders declined calls with Biden amid Ukraine conflict: report