President Joe Biden announced a ban on the U.S. import of all Russian energy in the latest effort to impose more sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
This is believed to be “targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy.”
“Russian oil will no longer be accepted at U.S. ports,” the president said in remarks Tuesday at the White House. “We will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war.”
The president said he made the decision in consultation with European allies but added they are not in a position to join the U.S. in banning Russian energy imports.
He said the U.S. is working closely with European allies to develop a “long-term strategy” to reduce their dependence on Russian energy, USA Today reports.
U.S. and European allies had previously insulated Russian oil from the sweeping economic sanctions placed on Moscow, citing its effect on the global energy markets. But the ban is expected to deliver a devastating blow to the Russian economy, which relies on oil and gas production for more than 40% of the country’s revenue.
Though Russia doesn’t export much oil to the U.S., the ban is expected to drive up prices that have already soared at the gas pump.
“In the short term, you’re going to see prices definitely go up,” said energy expert Gianna Bern. “How much, it remains to be seen, and where and how the void gets filled.”
But Bern, a finance professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business and author of “Investing in Energy,” called the ban “the biggest opportunity to make a dent in” Russia’s coffers.
“The oil and gas imports that have been coming into the United States needed to be addressed,” she said.
Biden’s announcement comes as the White House faced mounting pressure in Congress to act on Russian energy.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers said Monday it had reached a deal for a legislative path forward to ban the U.S. import of Russian energy products and suspend trade relations with Russian and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine.
