US President Joe Biden said that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, could be “isolated”, and that he would have fired or placed under “house arrest” some of his advisers, although he indicated that there is no irrefutable proof of this.
According to the president, US intelligence indicated that it would be because they were hiding the reality of the war in Ukraine from him.
Speaking to the press at the White House, Biden said that Putin “It seems that he has decided to isolate himself”adding that there are “indications that he has fired or placed under house arrest some of his advisers.”
However, he said he “doesn’t want to make too much of this” because The United States lacks “strong evidence” about this issue.
Washington on Wednesday released reports from its intelligence agencies indicating that Putin has felt cheated by his advisers because they are giving him “misinformation” about the evolution of the war in Ukraine and the effect of sanctions on the Russian economy.
According to the US intelligence community, Putin he did not know that his military had been suffering heavy losses on the battlefield.
In addition, in a press conference the director of Communications of the White House, Kate Bedingfieldclaimed that Putin’s advisers were “afraid to tell him the truth”.
The Biden administration has been making public information from its intelligence services about Russia and Ukraine even before the Russian invasion began on February 24.
The US made that decision before the invasion because it was trying to stop Putin, and in this case the goal is show that the war in Ukraine was a “strategic mistake that left Russia weaker in the long run, and increasingly isolated on the world stage,” Bedingfield said.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has generated at least four million refugees, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
In addition, Biden also said he was “skeptical” about Moscow’s announcements about a partial withdrawal of its troops from Ukraine.
The President of the United States, Joe Biden. EFE photo.
The oil problem
Meanwhile, President Biden ordered to release one million barrels per day of the strategic oil reserve for six months. It is about controlling the sharp increase in energy prices caused by the sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
The White House said Biden will ask Congress to impose financial sanctions on oil and gas companies that lease public land but do not produce.
It will also invoke the Defense Production Law to encourage the extraction of minerals that are crucial for electric vehicle batteries.
The White House characterized the release of oil as a bridge until the production of national companies increases. Government officials estimate that production will increase by an average of 1 million barrels a day this year and an additional 700,000 barrels a day in 2023.
Source: agencies.
AFG
