A full ban on oil imports would be a major blow to Russia’s economy.
As punishment for their ongoing invasion of Ukraine, numerous first-world countries have been hitting Russia with a variety of sanctions, severely impacting Russia’s economy and cutting it off from outside trade. The only exception to this, for the most part, was oil; until today, some countries were still purchasing crude oil from Russia, but it seems as though even that will be changing promptly.
United States President Joe Biden is slated to announce a full ban on Russian oil import today, in line with requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to most major western powers. This ban will be part of an ongoing series of “actions to continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine,” according to White House officials.
It is not currently known whether this ban will be conducted in a phased process or as an immediate halt, but in either case, while the ban will undoubtedly deliver a major blow to Russia, the United States may face a blowback as well in the form of rising gasoline prices. Gas prices have already hit all-time highs in the past week with just sanctions, so it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen with a complete ban.
