The Biden administration is looking at ways to secure energy for European allies in the event that Moscow reduces its oil and gas exports in response to sanctions.
A senior administration official said Tuesday on a call that they are in discussions with major natural gas producers around the globe to understand their capacity and willingness to temporarily surge natural gas supply and allocate these volumes to European buyers.
The official said that they have been working to identify additional volumes of non-Russian natural gas from various areas of the world.
The official who declined to be named in order to share details of ongoing plans said the administration was coordinating with major buyers and suppliers of natural gas to ensure diversion to Europe if necessary.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks as he attends the inauguration ceremony of a new gas pipeline “TurkStream” on January 8, 2020, in Istanbul.A second senior administration official told reporters on the call that if Russia decided to weaponize its supply of natural gas or crude oil it would have consequences for the Russian economy.
Russia needs oil and gas revenues at least as much as Europe needs its energy supply, because it is a one-dimensional economy, an official said.
This is not an advantage for Putin. The official said it was an interdependency.
The U.S., along with European allies, issued threats of swift and severe economic consequences if Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine.
President Joe Biden said last week that Putin never saw sanctions like the ones he promised.
Intelligence agencies warned last week that an attack on Ukraine could happen within a month.
More than 100,000 Russian forces and equipment were deployed along the Ukrainian border. The Kremlin has deployed additional troops to the country.
They have shown no signs of de-escalating. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday that they are adding more force capability.
Russian military aircraft carrying Russian soldiers at the military base Ivanovo region (Ivanovo-Severny airfield), outside Moscow, Russia, on January 06, 2022.The current build up is similar to Russian moves in the lead up to its illegal annexation of the peninsula of Crimea, which caused an international uproar and triggered a series of sanctions against Moscow.
We will start at the top of the ladder and stay there. One of the officials said that they had made efforts to signal this intention very clearly.
The Kremlin denied that the troop movement was preparing for an attack against Ukraine. Russia has asked that the Ukrainian bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization be denied.
NATO's article 5 clause states that an attack on one member country is considered an attack on all of them.
The Biden administration and NATO members do not agree with the request from the Kremlin.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg delivers a statement as he meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brussels, Belgium, April 14, 2021.The State Department ordered eligible family members of embassy personnel to leave the country due to the worsening security conditions.
The State Department recommended on Sunday that all U.S. citizens leave the country immediately.
A senior State Department official said on a call with reporters that the US should consider departing now using commercial or private transportation.
The official said that the security conditions along the border and in Russian-occupied Crimea and in Russia-controlled eastern Ukraine are unpredictable and can change quickly.
A second senior State Department official said that they were not able to provide the exact number of U.S. citizens in Ukraine.
US citizens don't have to register their travel to a foreign country because we don't have a comprehensive list.
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