US President Joe Biden’s administration announced a series of sanctions concerning energy in Russia. This is not terribly surprising as Russia exports a lot of energy, and it is essentially the basis of their economy. What is interesting is very of the sanctions specifically target digital aspects of energy.
On March 2nd, the Biden administration announced four main types of sanctions. First, the US is targeting Belarus, since Russia controls Belarus, and it is one of Russia’s closest geopolitical ally. The Commerce Department will not let any US companies export technology to Belarus. The US partially justified it on the basis that Belarus had imported tech from the US to power their energy capabilities.
Another sanction, that focuses specifically on Russia is one that prevents US companies from sending technology to Russia that helps Russia’s refining abilities. The reason for this is that Russia exports a lot of energy abroad. The West is trying to starve Russia economically. To do, other countries, including the US, will need to compete with Russia on energy. Besting Russia on technology capabilities can help other countries gain a competitive edge. Additionally, this technology is something that the US could potentially use as a bargaining chip for peace.
Finally, a sanction that focused on Russia and Belarus, concerned the military. This sanction forbids any US companies from providing any technology that could possibly be used to support the Russian and Belarusian military. This sanction is not specific to energy, but technology that supports energy is of course among the ways that the military could use technology.
While Ukraine is doing far better than anyone predicted. Russia is not showing any signs of giving up. As a result, the US will likely engage in more sanctions, including ones concerning energy.