The United States' declining diesel fuel reserves will worsen the fallout from Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to end participation in a grain deal with Ukraine, retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Blaine Holt warned Monday.
In an interview on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Holt said the dwindling reserves are akin to throwing "a few more logs on this fire," and will have a wide effect in the United States.
"We are down to somewhere between 20 and 25 days of strategic reserves in diesel fuel," he said.
"Everybody should just get rid of the word 'diesel' and put in the word 'food' because that's what moves food. When food is not moving, prices go up even further, and it makes more scarcity."
According to Holt, the United States should be focusing both on Russia's move to stop Ukraine from exporting grain, as well as diminishing diesel fuel reserves.
"The type of oil we pull out of the ground here is different, and we have to import oil to get it into our refineries to make diesel," he noted. "It's not a thing you fix right away, but it affects every single facet of American life. And so we're looking at some big storms ahead —Ukraine included."
Holt pointed to the lower water levels on the Mississippi River as a contributing threat.
"We have grain silos on the Mississippi River where grain is marked for export, and it can't get out. So this is a really bad situation," he said.
Yet, Holt said, Putin is now "in a corner" in his war with Ukraine.
"When you send your troops off to war with no food, no equipment, no training, you're gonna get your army mulched up," he said. "They truly are cannon fodder – they're truly being sent there to be a blocking force while the Russians pummel most of Ukraine, cities with missiles."
The Ukrainians "have some things that are going to be rolled out here in the coming weeks that are going to surprise the Russians again," he said, adding "and so the danger mounts."
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Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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