Biden: Drivers Will Pay More for Gas “As Long as It Takes” to Stop Russia’s War in Ukraine

President Joe Biden said Thursday that U.S. drivers will continue to pay record-high gas prices for “as long as it takes” to stop Russia’s war in Ukraine, acknowledging that consumers are unlikely to see relief at the pump anytime soon.

During a press conference Thursday following the NATO summit in Spain, Biden was asked how long people should expect to pay gas premiums because of Vladimir Putin’s war.

“As long as it takes,” Biden said, “so that Russia cannot in fact defeat Ukraine and move beyond Ukraine.”

“This is a critical, critical position for the world,” he added.

Gas prices have hit record highs in recent months, part of soaring inflation that has badly hurt Biden’s approval ratings and sapped support for his spending programs. The national average for a gallon of regular gas is $4.86, according to AAA, up from $3.12 a year ago. Republicans have blamed the high prices on Biden’s green agenda and efforts to limit drilling for oil and gas.

Biden also expressed optimism about the Russian oil price cap plan proposed by G-7 nations earlier this week.

The price cap scheme would seek to minimize Russia’s oil export revenue through restrictions on the insurance and shipping of its seaborne crude.

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“We’ve delegated a commission, a group of our national security people, to sit down and work out that mechanism,” Biden said of the plan.

“We think it can be done,” he added. “We think it can be done to drive down the price of oil and would drive down the price of gasoline as well.”

Biden also touted steps he has taken at home to help drive down prices, including ordering the release of 180 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and asking Congress and states to enact gas tax holidays at the federal and state level.

“If we do these things,” he said, and if Congress and the states agree to pass gas tax holidays, then “it’s estimated … we could bring down the price of oil about $1 a gallon at the pump, in that range. And so we could have immediate relief in terms of [the] temporary elimination of the gas tax.”

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“And so I think there’s a lot of things we can do, and that we will do,” Biden concluded. “But the bottom line, ultimately, the reason why gas prices are up, is because of Russia — Russia, Russia, Russia.”