BIDEN'S FULL PLATE: UKRAINE, INFLATION, LOW PUBLIC APPROVAL

On the same day that President Joe Biden called out Russia and and issued harsh sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, his only other public appearance was an event focused on the need to unkink the supply chain for minerals used in batteries, electronics and other technologies.

- 

The back-to-back events on Tuesday highlighted the competing claims for Biden’s attention entering the spring of a midterm election year: the prospect of a calamitous European land war that will only add to inflation and other problems at home while also managing a vexing set of domestic challenges and must-do tasks.

For Biden, the convergence of such urgent foreign and domestic issues puts to a test the often cavalier assertions of previous administrations that a president has to be able to “walk and chew gum” at the same time.

Biden acknowledged the troubling overlap in remarks as oil and gasoline prices have climbed on the grim headlines from Ukraine. He announced sanctions against Russian financial institutions, oligarchs and banks as well as Russia’s sovereign debt, effectively cutting the country off from U.S. and European financial systems.

Yet Biden also said he wants to limit the “pain” to Americans because sanctions aimed at pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin could also limit Russia’s exports of oil and natural gas and cause global energy prices to soar.

“I want to take robust action to make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at a Russian economy, not ours,” the president said at the White House. “We’re closely monitoring energy supplies for any disruption. We’re executing a planned coordination with major oil producing consumers and producers toward a collective investment to secure stability and global energy supplies.”