‘What happens next?’: Malliotakis says Biden should’ve implemented sanctions against Russia sooner

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said there are several actions the U.S. should be taking to better position itself in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Stricter economic sanctions against Russia and repealing President Joe Biden’s executive orders that prevent the country from producing more energy domestically should happen immediately, Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) told the Advance/SILive.com on Friday.

“Those are the mistakes I think the president made, but we can sit here and talk about what could have been done, what should have been done, but we should immediately ramp up energy exploration and stop importing barrels of oil from Russia,” Malliotakis said.

The U.S. should also be sending as many lethal and non-lethal weapons as possible to Ukraine to help the resistance, she said.

“If [Russia] is able to take over Kiev so quickly, what happens next? Do they go into some of the smaller neighboring countries, the Baltic states? Because those are NATO countries and then we’re really going to have a problem on our hands,” she said.

The congresswoman said she and her colleagues will continue to push the administration to explore all options and take all necessary steps to further help Ukraine and other NATO partners and allies.

‘WE DON’T HAVE 30 DAYS’

Malliotakis said she and other Republican colleagues in Congress called on Biden over a month ago to implement strict economic sanctions that would have crippled Russia and deterred Putin from an invasion.

She said she agrees with the sanctions Biden put in place on Thursday but believes they could go further.

“I feel that the sanctions didn’t go far enough and that they’re coming too late,” Malliotakis said, adding that Putin himself should be sanctioned.

According to a CNN report, Biden said his threat to sanction Putin is still “on the table” and is “not a bluff.” He did not answer when specifically ask why he has not sanctioned Putin yet.

CNN later reported that sanctions on Putin could come as early as Friday.

“The threat of the sanctions ... imposing the sanctions and seeing the effect of the sanctions are two different things. He’s going to begin to see the effect of the sanctions,” Biden said, according to the report. “It’s going to take time. We have to show resolve so he knows what is coming. And so the people of Russia know what he’s brought on them. That’s what this is all about.”

The sanctions will take 30 days to go into effect.

The congresswoman said had the sanctions been implemented earlier, Putin would already been feeling the impacts. “Thirty days? We don’t have 30 days; this is happening now,” Malliotakis said.

ENERGY AT ISSUE

The U.S. needs to diversify its energy sources and become energy independent, Malliotakis said, citing Europe’s dependency on Russian supply – 40% of natural gas in Europe comes from Russia.

“Energy independence means national security and we’re seeing that take effect right now in Europe,” Malliotakis said.

Because the U.S. gets 8% of its imported oil from Russia, American tax dollars are paying for the invasion of Ukraine, she said.

“I’m all for clean energy and renewable energy but I believe in diversification – not renewable energy at the cancellation of traditional energy sources,” she continued.

One of the main reasons, Malliotakis said, that heating costs and gasoline at the pump are skyrocketing is because Biden stopped most domestic production, and she believes ramping it up would put the U.S. in a better position not just for itself but to help Europe.

“The Keystone pipeline would bring in more barrels [than that]. So, the fact that he canceled the Keystone Pipeline was a grave mistake. But other than that, it could be ramping up production and exploration in many parts of the country in states like Texas,” she said.

Biden canceled a permit required for the Keystone project to proceed on his first day in office, saying it “would not be consistent with my administration’s economic and climate imperatives.”

Environmentalists who had fought the project since it was first announced in 2008 called the cancellation a “landmark moment” in the effort to curb the use of fossil fuels.

Keystone had become a flashpoint in the climate debate, with climate change activists protesting the expansion of oil sands development for fear the extraction process could speed up global warming, as well as contaminate waterways, and other concerns.

Still, Biden has faced significant pushback from other lawmakers, including some members of his own party, on his decision to halt the project.

Malliotakis said Biden needs to ease regulations immediately and repeal the executive orders that stopped the Keystone Pipeline and stopped the leasing of federal lands for production.

“[Biden] talks about possibly going into the reserves, I mean, we shouldn’t be going into the reserves unless we’re producing more to keep up with our needs to be independent here,” she said.