Washington Post (gated) with the report:
- White House officials have grown increasingly alarmed in recent days about Europe's energy crisis
- While publicly adamant Putin is bluffing, WH aides privately acknowledge Russia could retaliate to price cap by sending energy prices soaring
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It's a long piece, but, in very brief:
- Seeking to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine and force a retreat, Western allies have moved to set a cap on what buyers pay for Russian oil. Putin last week said Russia would retaliate by cutting off gas and oil shipments, which could devastate Europe’s economy and hurt the United States by sending global energy prices soaring.
- U.S. officials believe Putin’s bellicose rhetoric is at least partially a bluff, as Russia needs revenue from energy exports to finance its war effort, even at lower prices. But aides to President Biden have in recent days reviewed their efforts to export liquefied natural gas to Europe, aiming to see if there’s any way for American producers to help. (Nearly 40 percent of the natural gas Europe uses for heat and electricity came from Russia before the war started.) And while White House aides do not believe a recession in Europe would necessarily cause one here, a complete shutdown of Russian oil exports would seriously harm the U.S. economy, according to economists, energy analysts and internal White House assessments.
Yellen spoke on this over the weekend:
She is getting out of ahead it ....
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This is not new, of course, but the report on the rising alarm within the US admin is.
