It has been suggested before that Lord Trump's pressure on China and India is about drying up the market for Russian oil, to create an artificial shortage, to escalate prices, to the delight of the US oil industry, Russian exports dwarf those of Iran and Venezuela.

Of course, the US can't shut off Russian oil production at the wellhead, directly. But how about using Ukraine to disrupt Russian production? The end is the same, taking Russian oil off the market.

Ukraine strikes choke off Russian oil exports and fuel supplies

aljazeera.com - Ukraine strikes choke off russian oil exports and fuel supplies

An early iteration of Rant #1 held that the invasion of Iraq was intended to provoke the Iraqis to blow up their own oilfields, the way they blew up the Kuwaiti oil fields. The Rant continued that, due to Iraqi inefficiency, the US would end up blowing up the oilfields itself, to achieve the objective of tightened supplies, and escalating prices, to the delight of the US oil industry.

Steve...HBTT