The U.S. has been urging Ukraine not to attack Russian oil refineries, reportedly worried that strikes worsen the war and drive up energy prices.
But some Republican lawmakers wonder if the plea has more to do with President Joe Biden's reelection than with energy strategy, and that he is putting politics over U.S. and Ukraine security.
"It sounds to me that the Biden administration doesn't want gas prices to go up in an election year," Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a hearing last week, the Washington Post reported.
At another hearing, Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., asked: "While Russia is attacking Ukrainians' oil and gas and energy sector, why shouldn't the Ukrainians attack the Russian oil and gas and energy sector?"
Despite multiple conversations with Kyiv — including by national security adviser Jake Sullivan and unnamed senior defense and intelligence officials — Ukraine has stood firm on its strategy, including an April 2 attack on Russia's third largest refinery, the Post noted.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy views the focus as "as a rare bright spot" for Ukraine in the war, the Post reported.
Long-range Ukrainian strikes have hit more than a dozens refineries since January — disrupting at least 10% of Russian oil refinery capacity — as Biden ramps up his reelection campaign amid a six-month high in global oil prices.
Biden's position on Ukraine's strategy also stands in contrast to Washington's allies in Europe, who are are pleased by the Ukrainian campaign, the Post reported.
"The Ukrainian people [are] acting in self-defense, and we consider that Russia is the aggressor," French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said, the Post reported.
David Cameron, Britain's foreign secretary, has also defended Ukraine's right to hit Russian energy targets.
"It's not as if Russia is limiting itself to only hitting military targets or only attacking on the front. It's attacking all over Ukraine," he told the Post.
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