White House press secretary Jen Psaki refused to answer whether the U.S. would ban Russian oil at Thursday’s press briefing.
QUICK FACTS:
- When confronted by Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich over whether or not Americans are helping finance the Russian war against Ukraine by buying Russian oil, Psaki downplayed the situation, saying the main goal was to eliminate the impact of sanctions on American people.
- “I’ve not made any announcement about any decision on that front, but our objective here and our focus is making sure that any step we take maximizes the impact on President Putin and minimizes it on the American people,” And anyone who’s calling for an end to the carve-out should be clear that that would raise prices.”
FOX NEWS REPORTER ON AMERICA FINANCING RUSSIA:
“As long as we are buying Russian oil, aren’t we financing the war?”
BACKGROUND:
- In 2021, the U.S. imported about 700,000 barrels of crude oil from Russia per day, according to the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, The Blaze reported.
- When Heinrich asked Psaki about the Keystone XL pipeline being shut down, the press secretary responded by saying that it would not be beneficial due to the fact that it would be years before it would be functioning well.
- “Our objective and the president’s objective has been to maximize impact on President Putin and Russia while minimizing impact to us and our allies and partners,” Psaki also noted at a briefing. “We don’t have a strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy and that would raise prices at the gas pump for the American people around the world because it would reduce the supply available.”
