Russia’s key energy exports are facing US sanctions with US President Joe Biden announcing that the US would no longer import Russian oil.
“We will not be part of subsidising Putin’s war,” Biden said, describing energy imports as “the main artery of Russia’s economy.”
The US president also warned oil companies and their partners against “excessive price increases” as the war and fears of more bans drive up energy prices on the global market.
“Russia’s aggression is costing us all and it’s no time for profiteering or price gauging,” he said.
Previously, the White House said Biden would announce measures to “continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine.”
What is the EU stance?
On Tuesday, Biden said the US decided on the ban “in close consultations with our partners and our allies around the world, particularly in Europe” although many of them might not join the boycott.
But the EU has so far refused to sanction energy imports from Russia, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday saying they were “essential” to daily life in Europe. On Tuesday, the European Commission published plans to cut EU dependency on Russian gas by two-thirds this year and end its reliance on Russian supplies of the fuel “well before 2030.”
Just ahead of Biden’s announcement, the UK said they would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022.
What else did Biden say?
Biden acknowledged that the latest ban would cause fuel prices to rise even more, but pledged to do everything possible to “minimise Putin’s price hike” in the US.
Biden also urged Americans to embrace transition to clean energy, saying it would take power away from “tyrants like Putin to use fossil fuels as weapons against other nations.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously urged Western leaders to include Russia’s energy exports, an essential source of income for the Kremlin, into the sweeping package of sanctions against Moscow.
The US president also said the US would “share the responsibility and cost of caring for the refugees,” as the number of people fleeing Ukraine tops 2 million.
