Brenda Shaffer in Nikkei Asia
Brenda Shaffer, an energy expert at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, shares a similar view.
"The high oil price not only gives Russia high revenue, but also leverage in the current Ukraine crisis, by putting economic pressure on the West to back down from further sanctions and limits on its export[s]," Shaffer told Nikkei. "Up until ... the current recession starts to lower demand for oil, there is trepidation in the West to further remove Russian oil from the market."