Who is isolating whom? A strong case can be made that instead of the Biden administration’s claims to be isolating Russia, it’s the U.S. that’s increasing finding itself all by its lonesome. From Ted Snider at antiwar.com:
In his State of the Union address, President Biden announced that Russia was “isolated from the world more than [it] ever has been.” He said that “We are choking off Russia’s access to technology that will sap its economic strength and weaken its military for years to come.”
But the facts on the ground are less certain than Biden’s words.
Oil
In an attempt to relieve world markets from the pain and pressure caused by sanctions on Russian oil, Biden went to Saudi Arabia as a supplicant seeking oil. The Saudis gratefully accepted everything Biden brought them and then, laughing, escorted him out of their house. The Saudis did increase their oil production: by a drop. The 100,000 barrels per day increase, “equivalent to 86 seconds of global oil demand” was described by analysts “as an insult to U.S. President Joe Biden.”
Biden asked for help isolating Russia; Saudi Arabia seemingly sided with Russia.
What’s equally problematic for the isolation of Russia is that Saudi Arabia has actually more than doubled its imports of Russian oil, importing 647,000 tons compared to 320,000 tons the same time last year. And Saudi Arabia and China are discussing paying for Saudi oil in yuans as well as US dollars.
