Metro Observer Daily

The White House knows it risks a serious political hit if gas prices continue to rise. But on Tuesday,  President Biden  decided the risk was worth it in order to punish Moscow further for its war in Ukraine and to respond to bipartisan calls to cut off Russia oil and gas. President Biden A few factors made a difference in Biden’s decision. Political support for cutting off  Russia  in Washington and nationwide is high, and voices in both parties were calling for the move. Russian imports also make up a relatively small amount of the U.S. supply. Russia last year accounted for about 3 percent of U.S. foreign imports of crude oil and about 1 percent of the U.S. supply overall.  The desire to take a stand against Russian  President Vladimir Putin  is also high, making it difficult to avoid the choice even in a difficult midterm election year and a populace already irritated with rising prices.   Read More :   https://thehill.com/homenews/a...

  Kyiv  residents awoke Wednesday to an air raid alert urging them to get to bomb shelters as quickly as possible over fears of incoming Russian missiles, while the strategic port city of Mariupol remained encircled as a humanitarian crisis grew. Moscow said it was ready to provide humanitarian corridors on Wednesday for people fleeing the capital and four other Ukrainian cities. Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia's National Defence Control Centre, said that Russian forces would "observe a regime of silence" from 10 am Moscow time to ensure safe passage for civilians wishing to leave Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol. Follow our live blog for the day’s latest developments. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky  US  President Joe Biden  announced a ban on US imports of oil from Russia in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The UK also said they would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year.  The UN said the number of refugees fle...

  Intelligence experts Tuesday painted a picture of an increasingly determined  Vladimir Putin  set to “double down” on his invasion of  Ukraine  despite being ill-prepared for the consequences to Russia’s economy and with little prospect for long-term success. Vladimir Putin “I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now. He's likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties," CIA Director William Burns told lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee during the yearly worldwide threats hearing. "But the challenge that he faces, and this is the biggest question that's hung over our analysis of his planning for months now … is he has no sustainable political end game in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from Ukrainians.” Check Out :  https://thehill.com/policy/international/597406-angry-putin-set-to-double-down-in-ukraine-intel-chiefs-tell-lawmakers

 The Ukrainian and Russian delegations arrived Monday at the Belarus border for talks aimed at halting the conflict as the Russian invasion entered a fifth day. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was sceptical about the outcome of the talks but said they were worth a "try". Follow our live blog for all the latest developments.  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivering an address in Kyiv  The rouble plunged to an all-time low on Monday after Western nations announced fresh sanctions and Russian President Vladimir Putin put nuclear-armed forces on high alert. Ukraine is due to talks with Russia at its border with Belarus on Monday from 3pm GMT. President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was sceptical about the outcome of the talks, but that they were worth a “try”. The UN General Assembly on Monday holds a rare emergency special session of the 193-member body on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine . Also on Monday, the UN Security Council holds a meeting on the h...

 A spat between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Biden is pushing gas prices ever higher. It started under Obama. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2018 AS RUSSIA ORDERED troops into Ukraine on Monday, gas prices soared to their highest levels in over seven years. While the media focuses on the conflict in Ukraine, a major cause of the gas price spike has gone overlooked: Moscow’s partnership with Saudi Arabia has grown dramatically in recent years, granting the two largest oil producers in the world the unprecedented ability to collude in oil export decisions. The desert kingdom’s relationship with the U.S. has chilled in the meantime, as demonstrated earlier this month, when President Joe Biden pleaded with the Saudis to increase oil production — a move that would not only have helped to alleviate rising inflation and gas prices, but also reduced Russia’s extravagant pr...

Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said in a statement late Wednesday night that Russia’s military operation in Ukraine brings the “need to expel the current” leadership in Moscow “into sharp focus.” The statement was issued soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military operation in Ukraine, following weeks of speculation about a potential invasion.  Committee Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.)  “This unprovoked attack has brought into sharp focus the need to expel the current Kremlin leadership from the international community,” Menendez said. “Today must mark a historical shift in how the world views and deals with the despot in Moscow.” Putin, in a televised address Thursday morning Moscow time, said the military operation was meant to protect Ukraine from what he called a “regime.” Russia incrementally amassed up to 190,000 troops at the Ukrainian border in recent weeks, stoking fear in the U.S. and among allies of a large-scale offensi...

 KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine said early on Thursday it had closed its airspace to civilian flights because of a “high risk” to safety, hours after a conflict zone monitor warned airlines should stop overflights over the risk of an unintended shootdown or cyberattack. Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, near the Kremlin Wall during the national celebrations in Moscow Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine on Thursday in what appeared to be the start of war in Europe. “The provision of air traffic services to civilian users of the airspace of Ukraine is suspended,” Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise said on its website. “We will additionally inform about changes in the use of Ukraine’s airspace,” the agency added, without providing further details. Eurocontrol, which coordinates air traffic in Europe, said that Ukraine’s airspace was not available because of militar...