“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,” President Biden said in a White House announcement.

The invasion of Ukraine resulted in severe sanction responses from the US, the EU, and the UK in regard to the International SWIFT system which was only the beginning of cutting off Russian commodities. On Tuesday, the United States declared a ban on energy product imports from Russia without the inclusion of European allies. This ban consists of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and coal, says an anonymous source from Bloomberg.

President Biden understood that not every European ally is in the position to include themselves in sanctioning Russia’s energy supplies. Analysts say that if the West bans Russian oil, international crude prices can potentially reach $150 per barrel. Therefore, the full ban decision was considered in close consultation with its European allies.

So far, Western allies have abstained from sanctions on Russia’s energy exports due to the concerns of shortages in the oil market. Europe is more reliant on Russian oil than the US.

“Currently, there is no way to secure Europe’s supply of energy for heat generation, mobility, power supply, and industry,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says.