The West Just Hit Putin Where It Hurts
This move could cripple Russia.
The West has struggled to take impactful action against Russia. Sure, we have crippled their economy with sanctions, but that hasn’t stopped the barbaric onslaught in Ukraine. So, why have we not intervened to stop this atrocity? Well, quite simply, NATO couldn’t risk sparking a nuclear war, especially since Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons every other day. However, China (one of Putin’s closest allies) recently publicly condemned the use and threat of nuclear weapons (read more here), taking the sting out of Putin’s intimidation. Now, the West is clear to deliver the coup de grâce, and they have done so by crippling Russia’s oil industry.
So, what exactly is this killer move? Well, the G7 (formally the G8 until Russia left in 2014) will impose a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian crude oil, which will take effect on Monday, the 5th of December. You might be wondering why they didn’t just ban the import of Russian oil. Unfortunately, Russia makes up around 12% of the world’s oil supply, which means that suddenly prohibiting their oil would cause demand to vastly outstrip supply, resulting in a dramatic oil price spike in the West and potentially crippling our economies. As a result, such a move would be a bit of an “own goal.” But that begs the question: Is this price cap enough to stop the…
