After the US blamed Putin for the ongoing gas price inflation in the country, the Russian president blamed the West for the emerging global food and energy crises and repeated his government's offers of safe passage for ships exporting grain from Ukraine if mines are removed from the waters.
Russia's war against Ukraine has hurt American families with gas prices shooting up and it is going to rise further, US President Joe Biden said after announcing a ban on the import of Russian oil and gas. Biden, however, promised of doing everything he can to minimise "Putin's price hike here at home".
By an executive order, Biden had banned the import of Russian crude oil and certain petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, and coal. This step is aimed at depriving Russia of billions of dollars in revenues from US drivers and consumers annually. Last year, the US imported nearly 7,00,000 barrels of crude oil and refined petroleum products from Russia daily. The executive order also banned new US investment in Russia's energy sector, to ensure that American companies and investors are not underwriting Vladimir Putin's efforts to expand energy production inside Russia, the White House said.
"Of course, we are now seeing attempts to shift the responsibility for what is happening on the world food market, the emerging problems in this market, onto Russia," he told Russian TV. I must say that this is an attempt, as our people say, to shift these problems from a sick to a healthy head.
As reported by the state-run Tass news agency, Putin also said Western sanctions against Russia would only worsen world markets reducing the harvest and driving up prices.
He said inflation stemmed from the unprecedented dollar printing press during the coronavirus pandemic and blamed short-sighted European policies for under-investment in alternatives to traditional energy supplies and price increases. The Kremlin leader said Russia wasn't blocking grain shipments from Ukraine and that the West is using Russia as a scapegoat for its problems.
Putin pledged that if the waters were demined, Russia wouldn't attack grain shipments and suggested they could be made from the Ukrainian port of Berdyansk or other countries, such as Belarus. Berdyansk is under Russian occupation.
