On March 8, the Biden administration announced a ban on all Russian oil, natural gas, and coal imports to the United States in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden warned the U.S. that this could lead to an additional spike in gas prices.
“We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy,” said Biden in a statement. “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.”
The U.S. expected to announce the decision without its allies, as the European countries are not as well-positioned to ban Russian energy imports. However, not long after the U.S. made its announcement, the United Kingdom joined in, announcing it planned to phase out Russian oil imports by the end of next year.
Last year, about 8% of U.S. oil and petroleum product imports came from Russia, only 3% of which was crude oil, so the impact of the U.S.’s oil ban on Russia would likely have been minimal if not combined with other sanctions.
Biden stated that the package of economic sanctions as well as the export controls that the U.S. has already imposed on Russia have been causing “significant damage” to the Russian economy. The value of Russia’s currency, the ruble, has dropped significantly since Putin invaded Ukraine. One ruble is now worth less than an American penny.
In addition to banning Russian oil imports, Biden also announced that the U.S. would be giving Ukraine $1 billion in security assistance.
“Shipments of defensive weapons are arriving in Ukraine every day from the United States,” President Biden added. “And we, the United States, are the ones coordinating the delivery of our Allies and partners of similar weapons, from Germany to Finland to the Netherlands.”
Biden also mentioned several businesses that have pulled their operations from Russia, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Ford, Nike, Netflix, Microsoft, and Disney.
McDonald’s is the most recent company to announce its temporary closure of restaurants and operations in Russia. On Tuesday, the fast-food chain stated that it would be shutting down all 850 of its restaurants in Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
A statement from McDonald’s said that the company would continue paying the 62,000 of its employees in the country, but it cannot ignore the “needless human suffering in Ukraine.”
A week ago, Apple was the first to announce that it would be pausing all product sales and limiting the functionality of some of its services in Russia. Apple products are currently not being sold through Apple Stores in Russia, and Apple Pay has also been suspended.
In addition, Apple has also removed all Russian news apps from its Apple Stores in countries outside of Russia and disabled traffic patterns and live incident reports in Apple Maps for Ukraine to deter Russia from tracking Ukrainians’ movements.
A more extensive list of companies that have taken action against Russia is listed at the end of this article.
As the United States and its allies continue to aid and support the fight against Russia, the country continues to push its way into Ukraine. As of midnight on March 8, the UN’s Office of Human Rights recorded a total of 1,424 civilian casualties across Ukraine since Russia first invaded, including 516 killed and 908 injured. More than three dozen children have lost their lives to the war.
On the other hand, the UN’s refugee agency reported Tuesday that 2,011,000 Ukrainians had fled the country, most of them taking shelter in Poland. According to European Union Foreign Affairs Chief Josep Borrell, if Russia continues to attack cities, the European Union could potentially see as many as five million refugees.
Companies taking a stance against Russia include:
- Adidas
- Airbus
- Amadeus
- Amazon Web Services
- American Airlines
- American Express
- Apple
- Bain
- Boeing
- Boston Consulting Group
- BP p.l.c. (Beyond Petroleum, formerly The British Petroleum Company)
- Canada Goose
- Caterpillar
- Citigroup
- Cogent
- Deloitte
- Delta Air Lines
- Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn (DHL)
- Exxon Mobil
- Ernst & Young Global Limited (EY)
- FedEx
- H&M
- Hilton
- Hyatt
- International Business Machines (IBM)
- Ikea
- KFC restaurants
- Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG)
- Little Caesars
- Lumen
- Marshalls
- Mastercard
- McDonald’s
- McKinsey & Company
- Microsoft
- Netflix
- PepsiCo
- Pizza Hut restaurants
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
- Sabre
- Shell
- Sony
- Starbucks
- T.J. Maxx
- The Walt Disney Company
- Uber
- Unilever
- United Airlines
- UPS
- Visa
- Warner Bros. Entertainment
- YouTube
- Yum Brands