United States (US) President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a ban on US imports of Russian oil, gas and energy in response to Russia‘s invasion on Ukraine.
The move made by the US is unilateral, without its European allies.
Biden said, “We’re moving forward with this ban understanding that many of our European allies and partners may not be in a position to join us.”
“We are enforcing the most significant package of economic sanctions in history, and it’s causing significant damage to Russia’s economy,” he added.
Biden further said, “Today, I’m announcing that the United States is targeting a main artery of Russia’s economy. We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the UK government also announced that it plans to phase out all imports of Russian oil, its latest sanctions move against Vladimir Putin’s administration over the war in Ukraine.
Russia is the world’s biggest exporter of oil and natural gas. It has been subjected to global financial sanctions over the war in Ukraine, but until now its energy exports were exempted. Before the invasion, Russian oil and gas made up more than a third of government revenues.
