On Thursday, March 31, 2022, US President Joe Biden renewed his attack on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, saying that "Putin appears to be isolated in Russia , and there are indications that he may have fired some of his advisers or placed them under house arrest (...) But I don't want to count on it too confidently at the moment," without providing evidence.
While Biden stressed, in a video speech, that "the budget of American families related to fuel should not be affected, because of the actions of a dictator," in reference to Putin.
Biden noted that the increase in gasoline prices is "mainly due to the Corona pandemic and the Ukraine war," accusing American oil companies of enjoying record profits, while Americans pay high prices for gasoline.
While he called on oil companies to "stop increasing their profits at the expense of the American people," adding: "Companies should use the money to produce more oil or restart idle wells instead of paying investors."
He added, "This is not the time to achieve record profits, it is time to advance the interest of your country."
This comes in conjunction with the US President's announcement of "releasing one million barrels per day from the strategic reserve for a period of 6 months." In order to lower oil prices.
Isolate Putin from the world
In this context, Biden stressed that the sanctions imposed on Russia, and other measures, "contributed to isolating Putin from the world."
While he called on European countries to "independence" from Russian gas, saying that this step "will completely change the situation."
Also, Biden continued : "Washington will not let Putin use his energy resources as a weapon."
On the other hand, Biden questioned the fact that the Russian President withdrew his forces from Ukraine, and said: "There is no clear evidence that Putin is withdrawing his forces from Ukraine."
Oil is down 7%.
Meanwhile, US oil prices fell 7% to close just above $100, Thursday, after Biden announced the largest ever withdrawal from the strategic oil reserve.
Where the futures contracts for the US West Texas Intermediate Gulf, for May delivery, settled down 7.54 dollars, or 7%, to 100.28 dollars a barrel, after touching the lowest level at 99.66 dollars.
Brent crude futures for May delivery, which expired on Thursday, closed down $5.54, or 4.8 percent, to $107.91 a barrel.
The most active June futures contract also fell 5.6 percent to $105.16, after falling $7 earlier in the session.
Both benchmarks recorded their highest quarterly percentage gains since the second quarter of 2020, with Brent up 38% and WTI up 34%.
It is noteworthy that Biden had withdrawn 180 million barrels, equivalent to about two days of global demand, which is the third time that Washington has exploited the strategic reserve in the past six months.
Ongoing war
Meanwhile, the Russo-Ukrainian war entered its second month; Where it is intensifying day by day, in light of the two sides of the conflict sticking to their positions, amid the increasing number of deaths between the two sides.
At dawn on Thursday, February 24, 2022, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, followed by angry reactions from several countries in the world, which prompted capitals and regional and international organizations to impose various sanctions on Moscow, including multiple sectors, including diplomatic, financial and sports. .
This Russian attack is the largest on a European country since World War II, and heralds a change in the post-Cold War order in Europe.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of trying to install a "puppet" government (subject to Russia), and vowed that Ukrainians would defend their country against "aggression".
Moscow conditions
On the other hand, Moscow says that "the military operation aims to protect its national security" and protect people "who were subjected to genocide" by Kyiv, accusing what it called the "leading countries" in NATO, "NATO" of supporting what it described as "neo-Nazis in Ukraine". ".
This comes at a time when Russia requires Ukraine to abandon any plans to join military entities, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and maintain complete neutrality, which Kyiv considers an "interference in its sovereignty" to end the operation.
Thousands have died in the war, which has so far displaced more than a quarter of Ukraine's 44 million people, some 3.8 million of whom have fled abroad, half of whom are children.
Relations between Kyiv and Moscow have been tense for about 8 years, against the backdrop of Russia's illegal annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea and its support for separatists loyal to it in the "Donbass".