US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday a ban on Russian energy imports as the UK and EU also unveiled measures.
As Moscow intensified its invasion of Ukraine, Biden said Washington’s move is aimed at targeting the “main artery” of Russia’s economy by prohibiting energy from Russia, including oil and gas.
“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,” he said.
Biden said the measure has bipartisan support.
Also on Tuesday, UK business minister business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said the country would phase out Russian crude and oil products imports by the end of the year.
Earlier in the day, the EU unveiled more gradual measures.
Experts believe that a ban by the US alone would have little impact on Moscow’s war on Ukraine given the relatively small oil trade between the US and Russia.
Louise Dickson, a senior oil market analyst at consultancy Rystad Energy, said that a ban by European countries, by contrast, would impact 3.8m bpd in Russian oil exports.
But Europe’s dependence on Russia for energy makes the move unlikely.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Sunday that Washington was in talks with European allies about banning Russian oil, and reports indicated that countries on the continent were growing receptive to the idea.
But on Tuesday, the EU unveiled measures that are far short of an immediate ban.
The European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, said it wants to end buying Russian crude oil “well before” 2030.
The plan also foresees cutting natural gas imports from Russia by two thirds by the end of the year.
Blocking Russian energy imports “can’t happen from today to tomorrow”, German chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday.
“Therefore, it is a conscious decision of ours to continue business activity with Russia in the sphere of energy supply.”
Russia has threatened to retaliate against sanctions by cutting natural gas exports to Europe.
Several news outlets reported that deputy prime minister Alexander Novak has threatened to take measures against the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
Harry Papachristou contributed to this story.
