Watch: Biden bans Russian oil imports

WASHINGTON – President Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia’s economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The move follows pleas by Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy to U.S. and Western officials to cut off the imports. Energy exports have kept a steady influx of cash flowing to Russia despite otherwise severe restrictions on its financial sector.

Senior U.S. officials secretly traveled to Venezuela over the weekend in a bid to unfreeze hostile relations with Venezuela, a top oil exporter whose re-entry into U.S. energy markets could mitigate the fallout at the pump from an oil embargo on Russia.

Gov. Doug Burgum says relying on foreign governments to supply America’s oil needs is “absolutely absurd.”