WASHINGTON — President Biden is expected on Tuesday morning to ban the importation of Russian oil into the United States, a senior administration official said, making the move after pressure from lawmakers in both parties to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Biden is scheduled to make the announcement at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday from the White House. In a statement, the administration said Mr. Biden would “announce actions to continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine.”
The move would shut off the relatively small flow of oil into the United States, which receives less than 10 percent of its energy resources from Russia. But Republicans and Democrats in Congress had been urging the president to take the step to ensure that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was not profiting from American purchases of oil.
Officials said Mr. Biden had struggled for days about whether the take the step amid concerns about whether it would accelerate the already rapid rise in the price of gasoline at the pumps — a potent political issue for Americans in a critical election year.
Already, concern about disruptions in the flow of oil around the world has pushed up the price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil. On Tuesday morning, Brent crude hit $130 a barrel. It has been as high as $139 a barrel, up 26 percent over the past week.
And on Monday, anticipation of a ban on oil by the United States shook financial markets. The S&P 500 fell 3 percent, its sharpest daily decline since October 2020. The Nasdaq composite dropped 3.6 percent and is now 20 percent off its November record.
But the pressure on Mr. Biden to act has been intense. Lawmakers from both parties in Congress began discussing on Monday legislation that would ban Russian oil and suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, has repeatedly endorsed those actions, telling reporters last week: “I’m all for that. Ban it.”
It was not immediately clear when the ban would take effect. The United States and its allies in Europe and elsewhere have already imposed severe sanctions and export restrictions on Russia. The threat of those sanctions was initially designed to try to deter an invasion from happening in the first place
Those steps — which failed to prevent the war — include freezing the assets of major Russian banks and Mr. Putin’s wealthy Russian friends, cutting some Russian banks off from the international banking system, and blocking Russia from acquiring certain imports, including high-tech equipment.
Mr. Biden and his counterparts had purposely exempted energy resources from those sanctions in an effort to ensure the steady flow of natural gas and oil throughout the world.
But it is unlikely that Mr. Biden will be joined by the leaders of European countries, officials said. Europe gets about 30 percent of its oil from Russia, and leaders there have been wary of taking a step that would cut off that supply.
The president met virtually with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany on Monday morning to discuss the issue.
On Monday — before news of Mr. Biden’s announcement —Alexander Novak, the Russian deputy prime minister, warned that Russia could cut Europe off from the delivery of natural gas through a pipeline if the allies move to stop importing Russian oil.
Russia-Ukraine War: Key Things to Know
Russian oil imports. President Biden is expected to ban Russian oil imports into the United States, a senior administration official said. The move, which comes after bipartisan pressure to punish Russia, could further rattle global energy markets and raise gas prices.
The key cities. Ukrainian military and civilian soldiers continued to bog down Russian forces, protecting the borders of key cities and inflicting heavy losses against the larger and better equipped Russian army.
A humanitarian crisis. Indiscriminate Russian shelling has trapped Ukrainian civilians and left tens of thousands without food, water, power or heat in besieged cities. The U.N. said that the number of refugees who have fled Ukraine has reached two million.
“It is absolutely clear that a rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market,” Mr. Novak said.
“European politicians need to honestly warn their citizens and consumers what to expect,” he said. “If you want to reject energy supplies from Russia, go ahead. We are ready for it. We know where we could redirect the volumes to.”
Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, said Tuesday that Americans needed to be ready for the consequences if Russia retaliated, a move he said would be aimed at dividing the allies.
“We might well see energy prices double because Putin realizes that he’s got Western Europe over a barrel,” Mr. Coons said on CNN.
