Adrian Morrow U.S. Correspondent
Washington
Published March 7, 2022

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi says legislation to ban Russian oil imports will also allow for steep tariffs on other Russian goods and start the process of shutting the country out of the World Trade Organization.

The move is the latest effort by Congress to turn up the pressure on President Joe Biden to go further in punishing Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.

In a letter to Democratic legislators late Sunday, Ms. Pelosi reiterated her backing for an embargo on Russian oil. She said the ban would go further than this: It would also include other Russian “energy products;” “repeal normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus,” which would allow the U.S. to impose steep punitive tariffs on imports; and “take the first step to deny Russia access” to the WTO.

“The United States remains ironclad in our commitment to the Ukrainian people and in unity with our allies,” the Speaker wrote.

She also backed a plan to “support our allies who are supplying airplanes to Ukraine,” in reference to a potential deal in which Poland would give Soviet-made warplanes to Ukraine in exchange for the U.S. compensating Poland with U.S.-made planes. And she vowed Congress would pass a US$10-billion aid package for Ukraine by the end of the week.

The exact details of what the embargo bill will include, such as which energy products in addition to oil will be targeted, were not immediately clear.

Ms. Pelosi’s plan for higher tariffs is similar to action Canada took last week. Ottawa stripped Russia and Belarus of their “most favoured nation” status and hiked tariffs to 35 per cent on most goods.

Mr. Biden, along with the leaders of other NATO countries, has imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia, targeting its financial sector, central bank and ability to import high-tech products.

But pressure is mounting on the President to do more. Revenue from oil and gas provide nearly half of the Kremlin’s budget. The White House has been reluctant to target oil, for fear of raising gas prices at a time of high inflation and ahead of congressional elections later this year. Germany and other European Union countries, which depend heavily on Russian oil and gas imports, have also shied away from going further on sanctions.

In a video message Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on other countries to set aside their immediate economic concerns to stop Moscow’s aggression. He said countries that support Ukraine must stop buying Russian oil and other imports, and also stop exporting their own goods to Russia.

“This can be called an embargo, or just morality, when you refuse to give money to a terrorist. … If they do not want to follow civilized rules, they should not receive goods and services from civilization. Let the war feed them,” he said. “The international community must act even more decisively. When someone loses their mind, we have to lose fear and forget about commerce.”

Members of Congress are also pressing the Biden administration to get warplanes to Ukraine. The U.S. cannot contribute its own planes, as the Ukrainian air force is unfamiliar with them. But the Pentagon can give planes to Poland, which would in turn give its Soviet-made aircraft to the Ukrainian air force.

Following a video meeting between Mr. Zelensky and U.S. legislators over the weekend, Utah Senator Mitt Romney pressed Mr. Biden to act: “People are dying, freedom is under assault, and his number one request from us is old Soviet jets. The U.S. and NATO should accommodate his request now.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the Biden administration is considering an oil embargo and working on a deal to get warplanes to Ukraine. It was not clear when a final decision would be made.

“We are looking actively now at the question of airplanes that Poland may provide to Ukraine and looking at how we might be able to backfill should Poland decide to supply those planes,” Mr. Blinken told reporters in Moldova on Sunday. He later said in a CNN interview that the U.S. was considering the “prospect” of an oil embargo on Russia “in a co-ordinated way” with other countries.

Romania also has Soviet-made planes, but the country’s Foreign Minister said it was not part of the talks the U.S. is having with Poland. “As far as I know, we are not having a discussion right now on this topic,” Bogdan Aurescu told The Globe and Mail.