White House believes Russia is seeing a big drop in oil sales, imperiling key source of funding

“Ultimately there is enough demand for oil — enough folks who need and want oil around the world, including countries outside the sanctions coalition — that eventually that oil will be bought up,” said Eddie Fishman, a former State Department official who worked on Russia sanctions policy in the Obama administration and is now at the Center for a New American Security.

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Some experts believe the United States should use the current uncertainty to push harder to ensure that Russian oil sales are devastated. Fishman, the former State Department official, said the government could move to impose what are known as “secondary sanctions” — which would cut third parties off from the U.S. financial system unless they stop trading with Russian oil firms. Congress can pass legislation to enable the administration to do so.

“Some of the stigma around Russian oil is probably going to be temporary,” Fishman said. “I think it’s worth asking why [the United States is] not doing more.”

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