POTUS Joe Biden accuses Putin's grain blockade in Russia over record inflation in US

Joe Biden has yet again blamed Russia for the unprecedented inflation in the United States. According to the POTUS, it was his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin who has been blocking the major sea ports in Ukraine, resulting in 40-year high inflation in the United States. "We've got a long way to go because of inflation, because of – I call it the Putin tax increase – Putin because of gasoline and all that grain he’s keeping from being able to get to the market," RT News quoted US President as saying. Notably, this was not the first time when Biden blamed Putin over inflation in the US. Earlier in May this year, he levelled a similar allegation against Putin. 

His statement predominantly focused on the grains that have been blocked in war-torn Ukraine since the onset of the "special military operation". Besides, the US leader also blamed his Russian counterpart for a historic spike in energy prices. In a bid to control inflation, he announced the release of oil from global oil reserves on June 4. While announcing the initiative, he stated that it would help the oil prices to get down, which have been continuously surging since the onset of Russia's invasion. Apart from oil, he has also directed the sale of gasoline using homegrown biofuels this summer. 

Russia says Biden 'escaping responsibilities' 

Earlier, responding to Biden's statement, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, held the POTUS responsible for skyrocketing prices of commodities in his country and said, "Looks like President Putin is governing the US as well." Reacting to Biden's statement, Polyanskiy took to the microblogging platform and called the allegations "an unconvincing and futile attempt" to shift the blame and escape responsibilities. "Looks like President Putin is governing the US as well, since he can impose taxes on food and gas. Unconvincing and futile attempt by the US President to shift the blame and escape his responsibilities," he wrote.

Meanwhile, accusing Putin of the tremendous increase in prices, President Biden said his administration has been doing every possible means to prevent a further spike in food and gas prices. He acknowledged that the prices of gas and other energy have already touched a historical mark. He, however, reiterated Putin's name, blaming him for the rise. "I'm doing everything in my power to blunt Putin's price hike and bring down the price of gas and food," he said. "We're better positioned (than) just about any country in the world to overcome the global inflation we're seeing and to take the next step towards forming a historic recovery," added Biden.

 Image: AP/Pixabay