US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington was in “very active discussions” with its European partners about a ban on oil imports from Russia, as Ukraine braced for a widening offensive against its urban centres.
Restrictions on Russian oil would be a big step up in the west’s response to Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine with potentially serious ramifications for the global economy. It would also mark an about-turn by the White House, which had rejected bipartisan calls to ban Russian oil imports to the US, saying an embargo would limit global supply and raise prices for consumers.
The move would further isolate Russia’s economy, which is already reeling under heavy sanctions and a growing corporate boycott. This weekend, payment networks Mastercard, Visa and American Express, accountants PwC, streaming service Netflix and social video app TikTok added their names to a long list of companies withdrawing operations from Russia.
Blinken told NBC on Sunday that he had spoken to US President Joe Biden and the cabinet about the oil move. His comments came as Ukrainian civilians bore the brunt of the Kremlin’s widening offensive, which brought thousands of Russians on to the streets of Moscow and other cities in protest.
“We are now in very active discussions with our European partners about banning the import of Russian oil to our countries, while of course at the same time maintaining a steady global supply of oil,” Blinken said.
The US wanted a co-ordinated response with its partners but Blinken added: “I’m not going to rule out taking action one way or another irrespective of what they do.”
Asked about Blinken’s comments, a senior French official said that further sanctions were being examined by European and “other” partners, without detailing how advanced the discussions were.
“The question today is to see how we can resort to strategic reserves to stop prices from spiralling even further on oil and gas markets, and also, in the longer term, how we manage our stocks and our supplies,” the official said.
British officials are not ruling out a total ban on Russian oil imports but one described the idea as “a drastic move”.
UK foreign secretary Liz Truss has asked British officials to explore the idea of a “ceiling” on Russian energy imports that would come down over time, mitigating the likely economic shock.
Russian forces continued to attack populated areas and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine on Sunday, the 11th day of Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Attempts to evacuate 200,000 people from the besieged port city of Mariupol, where many have been living since last week in freezing cellars without basic services and under heavy Russian bombardment, failed for a second day running.
In Irpin, west of Kyiv, Russian forces reportedly fired on people fleeing the town, killing eight.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia planned to attack Ukraine’s third-largest city Odesa, a move defence officials have been expecting as Putin’s troops advance across the coast, threatening Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.
After Russia fired cruise missiles deep into western Ukraine and hit the airport in Vinnyitsa, Zelensky again pleaded with the international community to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine — an idea Nato has dismissed as a non-starter as it risked direct confrontation between the alliance and Russia.
If they failed to close Ukrainian skies to Russian jets, Zelensky said in a video briefing, there was only one conclusion: “You want us to be killed very slowly.”
In a two-hour telephone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin denied that Russian forces had targeted civilians in their bombardments of Ukrainian cities, according to the French official.
As Russia sought to consolidate its grip on southern Ukraine, defence analysts said Russian troops were being confronted by unexpectedly stiff resistance from Ukraine’s military and angry local residents in the cities and towns they had seized.
In Kherson, the largest city to be occupied, videos posted online on Saturday showed residents gathering in large numbers and directly confronting Russian troops. Protests were also reported over the weekend in Melitopol, Berdyansk and other Russian-held cities.
“People are driving Russians away from our territory, blocking the roads for them,” Zelensky said. “Every metre of Ukrainian land that is won by protest and humiliation of the invaders is a step towards victory for our entire state.”
Thousands of people across Russia protested against the war on Sunday, defying the threat of lengthy prison terms for anyone voicing their opposition. More than 4,300 people were detained in 56 cities, according to independent monitor OVD Info, which also shared videos of aggressive arrest tactics by riot police armed with truncheons. The demonstrations included one that took place near the walls of the Kremlin in Moscow and in central St Petersburg.
The UK Ministry of Defence said that Russia was targeting populated areas in multiple locations, including Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol. The assault was “an effort to break Ukrainian morale” similar to Moscow’s devastating bombing campaigns in Chechnya in 1999 and Syria in 2016, it said.
Russia has bombarded civilian targets, including residential buildings, schools and healthcare facilities.
The World Health Organization said it had verified six cases of Russian attacks on healthcare facilities that caused “multiple deaths and injuries” and was investigating more reports.
Filippo Grandi, the head of the UN’s refugee agency, said the conflict had led more than 1.5mn people to cross into neighbouring countries in 10 days, making it the “fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II”.
Additional reporting by Sarah White in Paris and George Parker in London
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