The US has shifted its focus to the Middle East, American weapons stocks are dwindling, and oil revenues are surging as crude prices spike amid Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the outlet notes.
The outlet cites estimates that Russia is gaining $150 million to $600 million per day from oil exports amid swelling demand from India and China, and is “likely to increase its take.”
With US resources drained by the Middle East conflagration, fewer munitions for air and missile defenses are available to send to Ukraine, which has “faded from the headlines,” the outlet underscores.
Furthermore, there are mounting “fissures" in the transatlantic relationship weakening NATO’s unity amid tensions in US-European relations over the Iran war.
The publication highlights a deepening sense of unease within the EU, which is no longer confident that the administration of Donald Trump remains aligned with its rabid anti-Russian stance—even as Europe’s own ability to shape global events continues to erode.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively choked off, the US moved to ease sanctions on Russian oil in a bid to steady global markets—underscoring a hard reality: Russia remains the backbone of global energy.