Joe Biden’s administration is preparing new and harsher sanctions against Russia’s oil, seeking to weaken the Kremlin’s war effort weeks before Donald Trump took office.
Specific details of the sanction are currently under work, but the White House is looking to restrict Russia’s oil exports, according to an anonymous source familiar with the matter.
President Biden has been reluctant to sanction Russian oil due to fear of energy costs skyrocketing, especially during the run-up to the presidential election. But after the oil price drop, and Trump is pushing for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, the administration is ready for a more aggressive move, said the source.
The call for sanction highlights the administration’s willingness to confront Russia before the end of Biden’s term, especially after previous attempts yielded mixed results and drove US oil prices down to the lowest since 2021. The administration is also looking to heighten its military and financial support to Ukraine as Trump has yet to confirm his commitment to continue support.
The United States has already banned Russian oil imports, so the new sanction would target other foreign buyers of Russia’s crude oil. Furthermore, the White House is also looking to sanction Russia’s oil tanker fleet (often referred to as the Shadow Fleet), said the source. The measure to limit these “Shadow Fleet” could be revealed in the next week, the source claimed.
One of the methods that the U.S. could use to sanction Russian oil exports could be the same as the method imposed on Iranian oil, where the buyer would be facing punishment from the U.S., although this move came with a major risk as many major powers such as India and China are Russian’s customers.
