The U.S. President Joe Biden has announced that his country is banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy.
“Today I’m announcing the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy. We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy.
That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports, and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine. This is a move that has strong bipartisan support in the Congress and, I believe, in the country.
Americans have rallied support — have rallied to support the Ukrainian people and made it clear we will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war.”
Biden said this decision had been made “in close consultation with the U.S. Allies and our partners around the world, particularly in Europe”, arguing that “a united response to Putin’s aggression has been my overriding focus, to keep all NATO and all of the EU and our allies totally united.”
Howeve, Biden stated that “we’re moving forward on this ban, understanding that many of our European Allies and partners may not be in a position to join us.”
“The United States produces far more oil domestically than all of European — all the European countries combined. In fact, we’re a net exporter of energy. So we can take this step when others cannot.
But we’re working closely with Europe and our partners to develop a long-term strategy to reduce their dependence on Russian energy as well.
Our teams are actively discussing how to make this happen. And today, we remain united — we remain united in our purpose to keep pressure mounting on Putin and his war machine.
This is a step that we’re taking to inflict further pain on Putin. But there will be costs as well here in the United States. I said I would level with the American people from the beginning. And when I first spoke to this, I said defending freedom is going to cost — it’s going to cost us as well, in the United States.”
USD 1 bln aid from US to Ukraine
The United States President announced they had provided aid of more than USD 1 billion so far for Ukraine.
“Thus far, we’ve provided more than $1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. Shipments of defensive weapons are arriving in Ukraine every day from the United States. And we, the United States, are the ones coordinating the delivery of our Allies and partners of similar weapons, from Germany to Finland to the Netherlands. We’re accom- — we’re — we’re working that out.
We’re also providing humanitarian support for the Ukrainian people, both those still in Ukraine and those who have fled safely to a neighboring country.
We’re working with humanitarian organizations to surge tens of thousands of tons of food, water, and medical supplies into Ukraine, and with more on the way.”
Biden mentioned the visits made by Secretary Blinken to the border Poland and Ukraine and to Moldova and the upcoming visit of VP Kamala Harris in Romania and Poland. “ I’ve made it clear that the United States will share in the responsibility of caring for the refugees so the costs do not fall entirely on the European countries bordering Ukraine.”
More about Biden’s speech here.