US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has spoken critically about the strikes that Ukraine inflicts on oil refining facilities on the territory of the aggressor country of russia. At the same time, he questioned their influence on the course of the war.
According to Bloomberg, Austin said this during a meeting of the special committee of the Senate of the US Congress.
According to Austin, strikes on the oil refining industry in russia can negatively affect the availability of energy resources in the world.
"These strikes can have an impact on the global energy situation... It is better for Ukraine to focus on tactical and operational goals that can directly affect the course of hostilities," he said.
Senator Tom Cotton immediately reacted to Austin's words, saying that the Biden administration is holding back Ukraine from effective actions for political reasons.
"It seems to me that the Biden administration does not want gas prices to rise in a presidential election year," he said.
As Bloomberg points out, the United States is trying to balance between reducing russia's profits from the sale of energy resources that help finance the war, and ensuring that enough energy resources continue to flow to world markets and that events that could destabilize the global economy do not occur. Global oil prices are currently at their highest in nearly six months, driven primarily by tensions in the Middle East.
Fighting inflation, including fuel inflation, was one of the priorities during Biden's term.
Austin also repeated the call to Congress to approve additional funding to support Ukraine, stressing that this money will actually stimulate the American defense industry.
We also reported that, according to Western media, the US authorities asked Ukraine to stop attacks on oil refineries in russia.
On April 2, a Ukrainian drone attacked one of the largest russian refineries located on the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Earlier, Ukraine struck two oil refineries in the Samara Oblast of the russian federation.
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