Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine
A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation this week that would ban US imports of Russian oil and gas over the Ukraine crisis — a move that President Joe Biden has so far ruled out.
The Ban Russian Energy Imports Act, introduced by Republican Rob Portman and a bipartisan group of 17 other senators — many of whom represent US states rich in energy and coal resources — would force the Biden administration to cut off the stream of Russian oil, gas and coal into the US.
“We must do all we can to bankrupt [President Vladimir Putin’s] economy and his war machine in order to defeat Russia’s assault on Ukraine,” Mr Portman said in a statement regarding the legislation.
“The United States should immediately stop buying Russian oil and increase domestic energy production here at home.”
Still, the legislation would need a buy-in from Democratic leaders to become law and the White House has indicated its opposition to banning Russian energy imports.
Mr Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday that he would not ban Russian oil imports and he has vowed to mitigate the increase that the harsh US sanctions on Russia could have on rising petrol prices.
“We don't have a strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy, and that would raise prices at the gas pump for the American people,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday.
Rising petrol prices, coupled with the potential for Russian sanctions to exacerbate the 40-year-high inflation within the US, could spell additional trouble for Mr Biden’s party in the midterm elections in November.
But that has not stopped high-profile Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, from rallying behind calls to ban Russian oil and gas imports.
And many US oil traders have already started avoiding the Russian energy market of their own volition.
Unlike in Europe, which is largely dependent on Russia’s oil and gas exports, Russian energy imports to the US account for a minuscule percentage of American energy supplies.
Russian crude oil makes for only 3 per cent of total US crude oil imports and 1 per cent of total crude oil processed in US refineries, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Trade Association said.
Most US crude oil imports come from Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
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A Ukrainian serviceman stands near captured Russian tanks, one painted in the colours of the Ukrainian national flag and the other marked with the letter 'Z' in the north of the Kharkiv region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Russian military vehicles with the letter 'Z' painted on them. Reuters -
French Air Force jets patrol airspace over Poland. Nicolas Tucat / AFP -
The patrol is part of Nato's surveillance system. Photo by Nicolas Tucat / AFP -
The German-flagged 'Seacod' oil tanker moored at Birkenhead Docks near the Stanlow Oil Refinery in the UK. -
A woman holds the hand of a child as they flee Ukraine. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber -
A young woman clutches a doll as she crosses the border in Medyka, Poland. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber -
A woman weeps after finding a friend at the border crossing in Medyka. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber -
People walk with their belongings as they flee Ukraine. AP Photo / Markus Schreiber -
Ukrainian refugees arrive at Berlin central station, Germany, from Poland on March 4. EPA / Filip Singer -
Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24, prompting the country's president to declare martial law and triggering a series of announcements by western countries to impose severe economic sanctions on Russia. EPA / Filip Singer -
Military vessels docked at the military harbour of Constanta, Romania, on March 4. Daniel Mihailescu / AFP -
A child plays with a pigeon during a protest in San Jose, Costa Rica, against the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Ezequiel Becerra / AFP -
Ukrainian citizens in San Jose, Costa Rica, protest against the Russian invasion in Ukraine on March 4. Ezequiel Becerra / AFP -
People fleeing Ukraine wait to board a bus in Palanca Village, Moldova. EPA / Dumitru Doru -
Ukrainians living in Britain join a protest at Trafalgar Square, London. EPA / Andy Rain -
Ludmila Shkarupa, 73, from Ukraine, sits on a chair wrapping herself with a sleeping bag to avoid the cold at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. AP -
A view shows a thermal power plant destroyed by shelling amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the town of Okhtyrka in the Sumy region. Reuters -
People fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine use mobile devices in a temporary refugee centre located at a local track-and-field athletics stadium in Chisinau, Moldova. Reuters -
A local resident walks past the remains of a house of culture following a night air raid in the village of Byshiv, 40 kilometres west of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
A member of the Ukrainian military guards an evacuation train of women and children who fled fighting in Bucha and Irpin. Getty Images -
A member of the Ukrainian military gives instructions to women and children that fled fighting in Bucha and Irpin before boarding an evacuation train to Kyiv after heavy fighting overnight forced many to leave their homes. Getty Images -
A person demonstrates outside the Russian embassy in London following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Reuters -
The Danish rescue group Falck A/S has donated 30 ambulances to Ukraine and neighbouring countries, where they will be used by local emergency services. AFP -
An aerial view of the remains of the local house of culture following a night air raid in the village of Byshiv, 40 kilometres west of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
People fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine rest in a temporary refugee centre located at a local track-and-field athletics stadium in Chisinau, Moldova. Reuters -
Ukrainian Oleg, who decided to remain in Irpin, comforts his son, Maksim, and his wife, Yana, before the arrival of an evacuation train to the city of Kyiv. EPA -
Yevghen Zbormyrsky, 49, runs in front of his burning house after being shelled in the city of Irpin, outside Kyiv. AFP -
People remove personal belongings from a burning house after being shelled in Irpin. AFP -
Medical workers tend to a Ukrainian serviceman wounded during the fighting with Russian troops near the Ukrainian capital, in a hospital in Kyiv. AFP -
A mother of a wounded Ukrainian serviceman waits outside his ward in a hospital in Kyiv. AFP -
Refugees from Ukraine arrive at an assistance point organised in the sports hall of a primary school in Lubycza Krolewska in Poland. EPA -
A member of Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces at a checkpoint in Kyiv. Reuters -
People carry their belongings past the debris of last week's combat in Kyiv. AFP -
Shelves in a supermarket stand empty in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine. Reuters -
War refugees from Ukraine at the assistance point organised at the Torwar sports hall in Warsaw, Poland. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen, wounded during the fighting with Russian troops near the Ukrainian capital, rest outside a hospital in Kyiv. AFP -
A 3-year-old boy watches cartoons on a tablet while his mother sews military vests for the Ukrainian army in the western city of Lviv. AFP -
A woman's shock as she stands in front of a house burning after being shelled in Irpin, outside Kyiv. AFP -
People fleeing from Ukraine queue to board on a bus at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. AP -
Ukrainian refugees are tested for Covid-19 in a reception centre in Vienna, Austria. AFP -
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pose with foreign ministers after a meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Reuters -
People who fled Ukraine wait for a bus to take them to the train station in Przemysl, at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. AP Photo -
The extraordinary meeting of Nato ministers of foreign affairs about Russian aggression in Ukraine at Nato headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. EPA -
Messages in support of Ukraine on a board in the Ukrainian pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. AFP -
Firefighters at a warehouse that caught fire after shelling in the village of Chaiky in the Kyiv region. Reuters -
The wreckage of a missile at a bus terminal in Kyiv. Reuters -
A crater in front of a house damaged by shelling in the village of Hatne. Reuters -
The damaged administrative building of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, a city in the Zaporizhzhia region. Reuters -
A bright object lands on the grounds of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine, during heavy shelling by Russian forces. AP -
Zlata, 3, with her face painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, stands on the Romanian side of the border with Ukraine after fleeing the country. AP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends an interview with foreign media in Kyiv. Reuters -
Ukrainian artillerymen maintain their position in the Luhansk region. AFP -
Women and children try to board a train bound for Lviv, at a station in Kyiv. AP -
US soldiers on patrol near a military camp in Arlamow, Poland, near the border with Ukraine. AFP -
A woman and child look out the window of a train at a station in Kyiv. AP -
A descendant of Ukrainian immigrants attends Mass at a Ukrainian Orthodox church in Canoas, Brazil. Reuters -
Boxes of donations destined for Ukraine at the St Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Montreal, Canada. AP -
Firefighters battle a blaze at a damaged building in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv after a Russian air raid. AP -
A woman in Frankfurt, Germany, attends a protest against Russia's military offensive in Ukraine. AFP
