(Washington D.C.) - President Joe Biden announced this morning a ban on importing oil and gas from Russia.

Biden said the action targets the “main artery of Russia’s economy.” 

“That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports, and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin’s war machine,” Biden said. 

Biden also said the ban would cause gas prices to increase and warned fuel companies against price gouging.

“To the oil and gas companies and to the finance firms that back them, we understand Putin’s war against the people of Ukraine is causing prices to rise. But it’s no excuse to exercise excessive price increases or padding profits or any kind of effort to exploit this situation or American consumers,” Biden said.