US President Joe Biden has said he can do nothing about rising food and gasoline prices in the near future.
He said this yesterday at the White House, writes CNN.
"A lot is happening now, but the idea that we can push the switch and reduce the cost of gasoline is unlikely in the near future. The same with food," he said.
Biden cited russia's invasion of Ukraine and its continued impact on energy and the grain market as a reason for rising prices.
" We're in a situation where because of a war in Ukraine, gas prices and food prices are extremely high. For example, we got millions of tons of wheat that is not able to get out and get to market.," Biden said.
This is leading to rising bread prices and food shortages around the world.
"And so we're trying to work through a war, we're trying to work through how we can get that harbor opened. And get the, you know, tens of thousands of tons of grain that are there," he said.
Biden also noted that the United States and the EU are discussing the possibility of purchasing Russian oil at a price below market.
"Europe deciding they're going to further curtail the purchase of Russian oil and there's a whole lot of consideration going on about what can be done to maybe even purchase the oil even at a limited price," - said the US president.
He added that russia is in a situation where it is forced to sell oil under sanctions pressure on the country, so it can be purchased at a much lower price.
It will be recalled that the European Union has agreed on anti-russian sanctions, which will be included in the sixth package of restrictions. In particular, it was decided to ban more than two-thirds of Russia's oil imports by sea, cutting off "a huge source of funding for its military machine."
Other restrictions include disconnecting russia's largest bank, Sberbank, from the international interbank payment system SWIFT, blocking the broadcast of russia's three state broadcasters in the EU, and expanding the list of russian sanctioned persons responsible for war crimes in Ukraine.