US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports, a significant move in piling pressure on President Vladimir Putin to halt his devastating assault on Ukraine.
“That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable in US ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
The US is not a leading buyer of Russian oil but Biden has worked with allies in Europe, who are far more reliant on it, to isolate Russia‘s energy-heavy economy.
Britain announced shortly before Biden’s remarks that it would phase out the import of Russian oil and oil products by the end of 2022. The EU also published plans to cut its reliance on Russian gas by two thirds this year.
Addressing Britain’s Parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the world to increase the sanctions. He said his people would fight to the end against the Russian invaders but it needed help, including no-fly zones. “The question for us now is to be or not to be,” said Zelenskiy. “I can give you a definitive answer: it’s definitely to be.”
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