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Good morning, Playbookers, and Rookumonovalin, it's Thursday.

And today's show, President Joe Biden's conundrum when it comes to Russian oil.

It's your Politico Playbook Daily Briefing.

President Joe Biden's conservative critics, from Fox News to Capitol Hill, have slammed the

administration for exempting Russian oil from the raft of financial sanctions aimed at the Kremlin.

They've argued two main things.

Number one, with Russia's economy so reliant on the energy sector, the U.S. should target

that nation's energy exports in order to be effective.

And two, Biden should simultaneously greenlight domestic energy production to offset any oil shortages.

It's a policy the GOP has been pushing for years, and that is in many ways, and tithetical to the administration's climate goals.

But now, calls to ban Russian oil are gaining bipartisan traction on Capitol Hill.

And with the blessing of President Volodymyr Zelensky,

Ukrainian officials are privately pleading with the Biden administration to cut Russian oil and gas off completely,

arguing that without doing so, President Vladimir Putin has a lifeline.

The issue is putting Biden in a bind, creating a damned if he does, damned if he doesn't

situation.

Here's why.

If he does block Russian oil, skyrocketing gas prices will go even higher.

On Wednesday, crude oil prices reached their highest level in more than a decade, which

will further inflate the cost of gasoline, which already averages 360 a gallon nationally.

While Russian oil and gas makes up a tiny fraction of U.S. energy supply,

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