On April 9, 2024, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin once again expressed the U.S. government's position on the Russia-Ukraine issue when attending a hearing on the 2025 military budget held by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. Austin told the old men of the US Senate Armed Services Committee that the United States must unswervingly support Ukraine, because without the support of the United States, Ukraine will collapse immediately, and Russia will win, which is absolutely unfavorable to the interests of the United States in the Ukraine issue and European strategy. Therefore, Austin hopes that the congressional gentlemen can negotiate closely, raise their noble hands, and let go of the aid bill proposed by President Biden, and only by providing a steady stream of aid to Ukraine can the United States' strategic interests on the Russia-Ukraine issue be realized. Of course, while expressing his unwavering support for Ukraine, Austin did not blindly favor Zelensky and did not blindly speak for Ukraine. Austin believes that at present, Ukraine has problems in the choice of many combat methods and the search for strategic targets.
For example, Austin said that now, Ukraine is using valuable drones and human resources to frequently launch attacks on energy facilities such as Russian domestic oil refineries, which, on the one hand, of course, has caused fuel shortages on the Russian front line, and on the other hand, it has actually contributed to the high global oil prices. The high rise in global oil prices has brought considerable challenges to the global economic recovery, and at the same time, it has also caused the United States to continue to raise oil prices, which is a situation that the United States does not want to see. Therefore, Austin reminded Zelensky that when Ukraine strikes at targets on Russian soil, it should choose some worthy targets, not always targeting Russian refineries, which has only one result, that is, to boost global oil prices. This is also the biggest headache for US President Biden, after all, since US President Joe Biden took office, he has been fighting against high inflation, Zelensky not only does not share worries for the Lord, but has caused so much trouble to the United States, he is really unworthy of being a son.
On April 9, U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin issued a warning to Ukraine when attending a hearing on the 2025 military budget held by the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. There are also deep-seated reasons why Austin expressed dissatisfaction with Ukraine's attack on Russian oil refineries, and the reason why Austin, as a U.S. general, U.S. Secretary of Defense, and a member of Biden's cabinet, maintains this position and makes this statement is also based on a variety of logics.
First, it is based on military logic. The so-called military logic mainly refers to the fact that Austin made a judgment from the perspective of a military man, and he believes that the Zelensky government's attack on Russian oil refineries is completely a cannon hitting mosquitoes, attacking Russian oil refineries with valuable resources, and Ukraine does not know what effect it can achieve. In fact, this will not really cut off the main artery of energy supply from the Russian rear to the front army, as Ukraine imagines, nor can it deal a devastating blow to the Russian energy industry. Austin believes that this is purely a unilateral imagination of Ukraine, and the reality is that even if Russian oil refineries are attacked by Ukrainian drones and missiles, the entire energy industry in Russia is still functioning normally. After all, Russia is an oil power, and the targets chosen by the Ukrainian army militarily will not have a lethal impact on Russia. From the general's point of view, Austin believes that Zelensky should wake up and use his precious drone resources and missile resources to attack more valuable targets in Russia, rather than on these small problems.
Second, in addition to dissatisfaction with the Ukrainian military, this is based on political necessity. Ukraine's repeated strikes on Russian oil refineries, although it has not had a devastating impact on Russia's energy industry, after all, it still affects Russia's oil exports, and the reduction in the share of Russian oil exports will virtually contribute to the rise in global oil prices, and the high global oil prices are also very unfavorable to the United States, the superpower. On the one hand, the United States hopes that the global economic recovery will bring greater benefits to itself, and on the other hand, the United States is a country built on wheels. Since the United States has long controlled the global oil market, the control of the Middle East has also allowed the United States to enjoy cheap oil prices, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, not only Russia did not care about the United States at all, but even Middle Eastern countries began to be inseparable from the United States, in this case, the United States' petrodollar hegemony has also been affected to a certain extent.
What makes the American people particularly dissatisfied is that the price of oil in the United States is also rising, which directly makes the American people feel very annoyed, so that the public resentment boils. Such a situation is completely unfavorable for US President Biden, because in the Biden-Trump campaign, one of Biden's main issues is to stabilize oil prices, and only by allowing the American people to enjoy cheap oil prices as in the past, Biden can get more votes. Now, Zelensky is undoubtedly demolishing Biden's platform, in order to share the worries of the Lord, Austin publicly criticized Zelensky, in short, as Zelensky himself said, now, the Ukrainian issue has become a weight in the domestic politics of the United States.
Third, Austin's statement also sent a strong message to Russia diplomatically, that on the Ukraine issue, the United States will continue to support Ukraine, and as long as Russia does not admit its mistakes and does not compensate Ukraine, the United States will stand with Ukraine. At the same time, Russia is a nuclear supermilitary power, and even the United States does not dare to collide head-on with it, let alone Ukraine. Therefore, when reminding Ukraine not to attack Russia's domestic oil refineries, Austin's real meaning is to tell Russia that the United States can support Ukraine as much as it wants, but it will definitely not support Ukraine to launch attacks on Russian territory, especially some key civilian and energy facilities. On relevant issues, the United States will maintain its own attitude, also because the United States does not want to provoke Russia too much, and as for whether Russia believes the United States, the United States does not care.
All in all, Austin is both a general and a politician, and his statement of wanting to refuse and welcome vividly reflects the two-faced approach of the United States on the Russia-Ukraine issue. In any case, it can also be seen from Austin's public criticism of Zelensky that the rift between the United States and Ukraine is also growing throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Now, Zelensky has gone crazy and wants to drag the United States directly into the war, and at this point, Zelensky and Netanyahu are actually brothers all the way.