NBC’s Velshi: ‘Russia Can Continue to Survive’ as Long as China, India Buy Their Fuel

On Thursday’s edition of NPR’s “Here and Now,” MSNBC host and NBC Business Correspondent Ali Velshi discussed price caps on Russian oil and said that regardless of whether there’s a cap, if China and India keep buying fuel from Russia, “Russia can continue to survive.”

Velshi said that he’s unsure if the cap will hamper Russia’s ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine, adding, “I think, probably, the thing that it’ll accomplish is it’ll cap the actual price that people pay for energy in Europe. Russia’s taken a big hit from the sanctions, but it continues to make a profit because while fewer countries are buying Russian oil, the price of the oil is so much higher that they’ve actually made more money on it. However, here’s what’s happened: There are ports that are closed. There are shipping lanes that are closed to Russian tankers. There [are] all sorts of logistical hurdles, including companies that insure these shipments that would have to abide by this. Russia has replaced some of the oil that it sells to Europe by selling it to Asia. It takes another month to arrive. So, Russia’s taken — already taken a big hit. And it does need the money. So, it’s not likely that Russia will cut off any fuel that it is already selling to Europe, despite these threats.”

He concluded, “I will say this, China and India continue to buy Russian fuel. And as long as they do, Russia can continue to survive.”

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