Three questions: Why does the US stop importing Russian oil?

The White House is expected to impose an embargo on imports of Russian energy raw materials as early as Tuesday, regardless of how EU countries do.

This is stated by sources to Bloomberg and Reuters, among others.

The embargo is said to stop the import of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal from Russia to the United States.

- For a long time, there has been pressure on President Biden to make this decision, which will probably come later today, from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

This is the only thing that seriously and quickly paralyzes Russia, says SVT's US correspondent Stefan Åsberg

Why is the decision coming now?

- I think that the United States has lately tried to coordinate the decision with Europe.

The sanctions have been very synchronized in the past and these are the biggest and toughest sanctions that can be directed at Russia in general.

- There has been an ambition from the American side to get Germany in particular on the decision, but now the pressure in the US has become so hard on the US government to go further than what has been done so far.

Therefore, it is probably decided today to be the first country to sanction the import of Russian oil and gas.   

What are the consequences?

- For consumers, this means that energy becomes more expensive.

Heating, electricity, oil and fuel.

In the long run, it will hit Europe much harder than the United States.

It should be remembered that in the United States, most of the oil demand goes to fuel, the transportation sector.

The price of petrol is extremely central and sensitive.

It's a big decision to make for a US government.

What do US expectations of Europe look like?

- That Europe follows.

That there will be a message in the near future, despite the fact that the price for Europe will be sky high.

The United States believes that Europe will follow suit despite the fact that the oil price can double up to 300 dollars a barrel, says Stefan Åsberg.