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President Joe Biden held a video conference call with the
leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Monday as
his administration continues to seek their support for a ban on
Russian oil imports.
The White House is also negotiating with U.S. congressional
leaders who are working on fast-tracking legislation that would
ban Russian imports, a move that is forcing the administration
to work on an expedited timeline, a source told Reuters,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
A senior U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity,
told Reuters that no final decision has been made but "it is
likely just the U.S if it happens."
Germany, the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil, has rejected
plans to ban energy imports. Germany is accelerating its plans
to expand its use of alternative energy sources but cannot halt
imports of Russian energy overnight, German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz said on Monday.
Oil prices have soared to their highest levels since 2008 due to
delays in the potential return of Iranian crude to global
markets and as the United States and European allies consider
banning Russian imports.
Europe relies on Russia for crude oil and natural gas but has
become more open to the idea of banning Russian products. The
United States relies far less on Russian crude and products, but
a ban would help drive prices up and pinch U.S. consumers
already seeing increasing prices at the gas pump.
"We import such a smaller percentage of oil from Russia than the
Europeans do ... it is very different circumstance," White House
Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a
Sunday letter that her chamber is exploring legislation to ban
the import of Russian oil and that Congress intends to enact
this week $10 billion in aid for Ukraine in response to Moscow's
military invasion of its neighbor.
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a bill on
Thursday to ban U.S. imports of Russian oil. The Senate bill is
getting fast-tracked.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, the White House slapped sanctions
on exports of technologies to Russia's refineries and the Nord
Stream 2 gas pipeline, which has never launched.
So far, the United States has stopped short of targeting
Russia's oil and gas exports as the Biden administration weighs
the impacts on global oil markets and U.S. energy prices.
Asked if the United States has ruled out banning Russian oil
imports unilaterally, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on
Sunday said: "I'm not going to rule out taking action one way or
another, irrespective of what they do, but everything we've
done, the approach starts with coordinating with allies and
partners," Blinken said.
At the same time, the White House did not deny that Biden might
make a trip to Saudi Arabia as the United States seeks to get
Riyadh to increase energy production. Axios reported that such a
trip was a possibility.
"This is premature speculation and no trip is planned," a White
House official said.
A year ago, Biden shifted U.S. policy away from a focus on Saudi
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is considered by many to
be the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia and next in line to the
throne held by the 85-year-old King Salman.
(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw and Timothy Gardner; additional
reporting by Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Mark
Porter)
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