US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not win the war in Ukraine.
“This much is already clear: Ukraine will never be a victory for Putin. Putin may be able to take a city — but he will never be able to hold the country,” President Biden tweeted.
President Biden on Tuesday announced that in response to the continued aggression by Moscow in Ukraine, the US will no longer import Russian oil and gas.
This will result in a strong setback to Russia’s war machine, President Biden further said.
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President Biden asserted that the US will have to become energy dependent to protect its economy and its people from such energy shocks.
This will help the country move towards clean and affordable energy which will help absolve the issue of environmental degradation by removing the need to loosen environmental regulations, President Biden said. He also pushed for the use of electric vehicles.
Transition to clean energy will help reduce the impact of fluctuating oil and gas prices and “tyrants like Putin” will not be able to weaponize energy for geopolitical ambitions.
“We're moving forward with this ban, understanding that many of our European allies and partners may not be in a position to join us. We are enforcing the most significant package of economic sanctions in history, and it's causing significant damage to Russia's economy,” Biden said.
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For the transition to clean energy, including electric vehicles, semiconductors are a critical component. However, the invasion of Ukraine has disrupted the tech industry as well.
90 percent of US-semiconductor grade neon comes from Ukraine. 45 percent of the world’s palladium, a metal used to produce semiconductors, come from Russia.
A potential disruption of semiconductor supply, via sanctions, has shot up the prices of palladium as well as the chips. This is bound to translate into increase in demand and hence increase in prices of clean technology.
Brent crude is currently trading at USD 130.38 per barrel.
