US Quickly OK'ing Exports to Ukraine, Focusing ‘Relentlessly’ on Sanctions Evasion, Blinken Says
The State Department has moved “very effectively and very efficiently” to approve exports of military equipment to Ukraine since the invasion by Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Blinken said the agency has been able to authorize some license applications in days that previously took several weeks. “This is moving quickly,” he said during an April 26 hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We have cut through a lot of red tape.”
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The U.S. has so far approved more than $1 billion in military equipment and services to Ukraine, which has included commercial exports and drawdowns from the Defense Department (see 2203300016). Blinken said arms transfers to Ukraine will remain a priority. “When it comes to authorizing the transfer of that equipment, if it has U.S.-origin technology in it," he said, "I've done those authorizations in 24 hours or less to make sure that we're moving things quickly."
He also said the U.S. has doubled its liquefied natural gas exports to Europe “since early this year” to try to reduce EU dependence on Russian energy, and President Joe Biden has “urged” domestic producers to speed up production. “We have redirected significant amounts of LNG to Europe in the short term to help them compensate for any losses that they might have in moving away from Russian gas,” Blinken said. “That process is continuing.”
But he also said the process has been challenging, despite the creation of a U.S.-EU energy security task force earlier in March to help the EU eliminate Russian oil imports (see 2203250035). A National Security Council official said this week U.S. LNG exporters face infrastructure shortages, and export terminals are running at “max capacity” (see 2204260060).
“The Europeans have, I think, genuinely ambitious plans to move away from this reliance on Russian energy,” Blinken said. “I think you are likely to see in the coming weeks further progress on the oil side of the equation.”
Although some countries have reportedly increased imports of Russian energy since the war began, Blinken said the U.S. hasn’t yet applied any secondary sanctions on countries or companies for doing so. “But that doesn't mean that we won't,” he said.
James O’Brien, confirmed by the Senate earlier this month as the State Department’s new sanctions coordinator (see 2204150049), is “looking intensely” at where the U.S. may be able to apply secondary sanctions against countries or companies aiding Russia, Blinken said. “This is something that we're going to focus on relentlessly as we move forward.”
But Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said the U.S. “hasn't been successful doing that” so far. He said China increased its imports from Russia by 12% in March, and a “number of other countries” have also ramped up Russian purchases.
“We made the right decision by saying that the United States is not going to continue to import Russian gas and oil. But if that oil is just on the international market and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is able to sell it to somebody else, that obviously doesn't do us any good at all,” Van Hollen said. “Why aren't we applying secondary sanctions against countries that are increasing their imports from Russian commodities?”
Blinken said the U.S. is hoping to first convince countries to “voluntarily” limit trade with Russia and is concerned that harsh secondary sanctions and other trade restrictions could backfire. “We want to make sure that we are not taking actions in the near term that may have the result of spiking energy prices,” he said. “We have to do it in a deliberate way so that we don't have an effect contrary to the one that we're trying to achieve.”
Van Hollen said the U.S. should use China’s refusal to penalize Russia as an opportunity to work closer with the EU on a “coordinated approach” against China. Blinken agreed. “China is paying a reputational cost for -- to be charitable about it -- sitting on the fence when it comes to Russia's aggression against Ukraine,” Blinken said. “I think it's seeing that play out in its relationships with other countries, notably in Europe.”