On Tuesday, Joe Biden, the US President, proclaimed a ban on Russian energy imports in response to the premeditated and unjustified large-scale incursion of Ukraine, amid strong support from U.S. legislators and voters, although the action would increase American energy prices.
On Tuesday, Joe Biden, the US President, proclaimed a ban on Russian energy imports in response to the premeditated and unjustified large-scale incursion of Ukraine amid strong support from U.S. legislators and voters. pic.twitter.com/PErQmExYlg
— Live News Now (@LiveNewsNow6) March 9, 2022
At the White House conference, the U.S. President told the media that they’re prohibiting all imports of Russian oil and energy. That means Russian energy will no longer be tolerated in American ports, and the US people will deal an additional intense blow to Russian leader Putin’s war machine.
The Central European country of Poland also said that it would deliver its Russian-designed Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter planes to US’ Ramstein Air Base in Germany, presumably for pilots of Ukraine to use. In return, Poland’s Foreign Affairs Ministry requested that America deliver Poland jets having similar operational capacities.
Noting that the energy ban on Russian oil and gas wouldn’t reach without cost to Americans, President Biden said that they’d not become part of subsidizing the Russian President’s war in Ukraine.
Furthermore, U.S. legislators highly praised the Ukrainian President for addressing them in a defiant speech via video. Volodymyr Zelensky reminded Winston Churchill, the UK’s Second World War leader, as he undertook to continue defending his country and people till the end at sea, in the air. Zelensky vowed to keep fighting for their land, whatever the cost.
Oil Prices Hit All-Time High
The United States has been working with Western allies, which are substantially more reliant on Russian energy, to detach Mr. Putin and the economy of Russia, which greatly depend on exports of oil & gas. On March 8, the U.K. proclaimed that it would eliminate the Russian oil and energy imports by 2022’s end.
The US ban on Russian oil and energy products caps extensive US and European sanctions announced on Putin’s Russia for launching the largest war in the West since the Second World War. Moscow’s attacks have targeted major cities in Ukraine and killed hundreds of innocent civilians. Moreover, the US leader, who has vowed that US military personnel wouldn’t go to fight in the post-Soviet state, enunciated US’ assistance for the Ukrainian forces and people. Biden also predicted Ukrainian’s ultimate win.
Petroleum prices increased on the news, Brent Crude Benchmark for May 2022 climbing by 5.4 percent to 129.91 dollars per barrel. According to the American Automobile Association, retail oil prices in America increased to an all-time high on March 8, with the average retail cost of a gallon of gasoline striking 4.173 dollars early on the day.
The US official said that Americans consulted closely with its Western allies on the ban, but didn’t ask them to play, and didn’t anticipate that they’d. Russia exports 4-to-5M bbls of crude per day and nearly 8500 Bn cubic feet of natural gas per annum.
Source: US Energy Information Administration, 2020 Statistics
Also, the US President said consequences imposed by the US and its allies and partners had already caused the economy of Russia to ‘crater’ and pledged to continue increasing pressure on the Kremlin to prevent the war that compelled over 2M refugees to leave the Ukrainian land.