Biden Pressured From All Sides on Ukraine Response

The prospect of congressionally passed sanctions — combined with the fact that the US gets relatively little petroleum product from Russia — probably explains the Biden administration’s rapid about-face on supporting a ban.

“The administration has no interest in having congressionally mandated sanctions that are harder for them to lift,” says Rachel Ziemba, a non-resident fellow at the Center for New American Security.

A president can’t easily promise to lift congressionally passed sanctions, limiting his ability to use sanctions relief as a carrot at the negotiating table the way he can if such restrictions come from the White House.

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