Bessent partly blames Ukraine for ‘energy shock’ pushing up prices

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday partially blamed Ukraine for the “energy shock” caused by the Iran war and Russia’s four-and-a-half-year-long war with the Eastern European country.

Bessent appeared on “Fox & Friends” with co-host Brian Kilmeade and said the Trump administration’s trade war with Canada will have “virtually no impact on American prices.”

“We are going through an energy shock right now due to both the war in Ukraine, because Ukraine has decided that they want to blow up Russian energy assets and refined properties, so that is creating upward price pressure on a global basis, and the conflict in Iran,” he said.

Bessent, who earlier in the interview said prices are “too high,” added that “overall, prices are coming down, core inflation is very under control.”

The accusation was lambasted on social media, with former Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashchenko noting on the social platform X that the Iran war has “significantly” impacted the energy market more than Ukraine striking “Russia’s capacity to wage a war of aggression against Ukraine.”

“Scott Bessent is a lying sack of s–––,” YouTube personality Jay in Kyiv wrote on X . “Blaming Ukraine for higher energy prices. What a dips–––.”

The anti-Trump X account Republicans against Trump called Bessent’s claim “ unbelievable .”

Ukraine has deployed drones deep into Russia to strike oil facilities in recent months , amid the U.S. conflict with Iran, which has closed off the Strait of Hormuz and severed one-fifth of the world’s oil from being exported out of the Middle East, causing gas prices to soar.

The national average for gas in the U.S. hit $4.12 on Wednesday, a 3-cent increase from Tuesday, according to AAA’s data .

Attacks on Russian oil facilities have led to reports of “ black rain ,” similar to U.S. attacks on Iranian oil depots , falling on residents, with oil spills along the coastline coating birds and fish.

The initial Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 worsened inflation at a time when the world was still recovering from the economic ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, with inflation in March 2022 climbing to 8.5 percent. It reached 9.1 percent by June of that year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Already-high energy prices rose higher as the U.S. and Iran have exchanged strikes in recent days, and the Trump administration says it will exert more economic pressure on the Iranian economy. Bessent said that as the U.S. talks with other countries about isolating the regime, Iran’s economy could fall “ within weeks or months .”

He has also suggested that the Strait of Hormuz will be a “ worthless piece of water ” to the oil industry in two years.

“We have to de-risk everywhere in the world,” Bessent told Fox Business’s Larry Kudlow. “You can see the Iranians are trying to use the Strait of Hormuz as a choke point. It’s not a choke point for the US but it is a choke point for many, many other countries.”