White House Opposes Ban on Russian Oil Imports; Urges World to Reduce Reliance on Oil to Punish Vladimir Putin

President Joe Biden and his administration said Americans should reduce their consumption of oil and gas in order to keep prices down and ultimately punish Russian President Vladimir Putin.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki reacted to calls for the United States to stop importing oil from Russia in order to further punish Putin for escalating his invasion of Ukraine.

She said President Joe Biden and his administration were not interested in banning imports of oil from Russia, because reducing the supply would only increase prices and enrich the Russians.

“What this is all a reminder of in the president’s view is our need to reduce our reliance on oil,” Psaki said in a conversation with reporters at the daily briefing. “The Europeans need to do that. We need to do that.”