Growing call for president to ban Russian oil imports

As the crisis continues to grow in Ukraine, several Democrats are calling on President Joe Biden to ban Russian oil imports.

However, when KIRO 7 spoke with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and asked about her stance on the topic, she’s walking more of a fine line.

“I am open to this conversation because obviously, this is an important part of Russia’s economy,” Jayapal told KIRO 7. “Well, I just think there’s a lot of consequences that we have to look at.”

A group of bipartisan lawmakers is already working on legislation to ban the import of Russian oil and gas, gaining the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi commented when asked about her stance, “I’m all for that, ban it.”

After another question, Pelosi commented, “Ban the oil coming from Russia.”

Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of oil, and with a ban, it is feared the move would send already high gas prices skyrocketing.

“For us, if you look at publicly available data, it’s only about 10% of our imports. But again, reducing the supply out there would have an impact on prices and prices at the gas pump,” said Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary.

“We’re going to have to get it from somewhere. There’s no way that you can increase U.S. production. Anybody who’s saying ‘drill, baby, drill,’ and get it done through U.S. production, is missing the point. That’s not going to happen,” said Jayapal. “Let’s see where this goes. And I think there’s no easy answers here. And I think everybody understands that no matter what we do, we probably are going to see gas prices continue to rise.”

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