It was considered inconceivable. Gas prices were already climbing in the US due to inflation. There is nothing more irritating to car-dependent Americans than higher gas prices. Stopping Russian oil imports was akin to political suicide… and then the unexpected happened.
Russian oil imports only make up 8% of US oil imports, so why did President Biden do it?
My prediction is that Biden wants a reason to become more directly involved in the war in Ukraine. Making the case that higher prices at the pump are hurting Americans is a means of gathering support for greater involvement. However, it is not clear what this involvement might look like. It cannot be underestimated that NATO’s involvement in Ukraine could mark the beginning of World War III in Europe. (While we’re at it, China could use its alliance with Russia to simultaneously invade Taiwan.) Putin is a democratically elected dictator. His whims could mean death. NATO cannot attack without risking a nuclear war with Russia, with a whimsical dictator at its helm.
There lies the conundrum. One would think that within the halls of NATO, European foreign ministries, the Pentagon and the State Department there would be foreign policy experts that have been planning for the possibility of this scenario, especially since Russia has done this before with the invasion of Crimea in 2014 and parts of Georgia in 2008. NATO’s response has shown that there isn’t a good option when you’re dealing with someone who could trigger a nuclear war.
Putin is a democratically elected dictator. His whims could mean death.
But Biden clearly drew a line in the sand. He is adamant that he will not let Russian forces cross “one inch” into NATO territory. Even if a bomb errantly falls into NATO territory, I wonder what they would do next. The risk of nuclear war hasn’t gone away.
