A new Quinnipiac poll finds that Americans would support a ban on Russian oil even if it meant higher gasoline prices in the United States, 71% to 22%.

As for the steps the Biden administration has taken so far to punish Russia for invading Ukraine, 56% say they are not tough enough, while 30% say they are about right, and 3% say they are too tough.

Said pollster Tim Malloy: “Americans are ready to put a chokehold on Russia’s key financial lifeblood, oil, no matter what the consequences are at the pump.”

“A bipartisan group of lawmakers said on Monday that they would move forward with legislation that would ban imports of Russian energy into the United States and suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus in response to the invasion of Ukraine,” the New York Times reports.

“Top European leaders said Monday that they recognize the need to reduce the continent’s dependence on Russian energy but stressed that an immediate embargo would not be feasible,” Axios reports.

“Under pressure from Congress and the Ukrainian government, the Biden administration may move to ban Russian oil imports on a unilateral basis if the U.S. cannot immediately bring along its European allies.”

“The Biden administration is considering whether to prohibit Russian oil imports into the U.S. without the participation of allies in Europe, at least initially,” Bloomberg reports.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Thursday she supports banning oil import from Russia in response to Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Axios reports.

Said Pelosi: “I’m all for that. Ban it. Ban the oil coming from Russia.”

“The possibility of the U.S. sanctioning Russian oil exports is ‘still on the table’ as President Biden looks for more ways to punish the country for its invasion of Ukraine,” CNN reports.

“Taking such a step would be an extraordinary measure that could have an intense effect on domestic gas prices, however.”

“The West is rolling out increasingly tough sanctions on Russia but it is going out of its way to preserve the country’s biggest source of revenue: energy exports,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Russia’s new military push against Ukraine poses another threat to Europe’s already tenuous supply of natural gas,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week said he wouldn’t turn off his country’s flow of gas to Europe, after deploying troops to two breakaway Ukrainian provinces. But his announcement early Thursday of fresh military action in the country ratchets up risks to Ukraine’s gas-transport infrastructure, crucial to European supplies. It also poses the threat that Russia will shut off its gas in response to Western sanctions meant to punish Moscow.”

Financial Times: “Russia is confident it can shrug off Germany’s decision to halt certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and believes EU efforts to diversify the bloc’s energy sources will fail.”

“The Biden administration is expected to announce on Wednesday that it will allow sanctions to move forward on the company in charge of building Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, after blocking such sanctions last year using a national security waiver,” CNN reports.

“Sanctioning Nord Stream 2’s parent company, Nord Stream 2 AG — a registered Swiss firm whose parent company is the Russian gas giant Gazprom — is effectively a death knell to the project.”

The Hill reports Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has now lifted his hold on Biden’s State Department nominees now that the sanctions are moving forward.

Wall Street Journal: “Germany said it halted moves to open the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine in exporting natural gas to Europe, and the European Union proposed a ban on purchases of Russian bonds, sanctions on all members of the Russian parliament, which is voting on the recognition Tuesday, and an asset freeze for three Russian banks with links to the two statelets.”

“The U.K. government announced a first wave of sanctions against five Russian banks and three high-net-worth individuals.”

Associated Press: “However, Putin continued to knock the world off-kilter with a strategy where confusion about the true extent of an invasion, which would automatically kick in major sanctions, remained unclear and debatable.”

“Rising oil prices and fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine have created a dilemma for Saudi Arabia: Help the West by pumping more crude to tame the market, or stand by a five-year-old oil alliance that is helping Moscow at the expense of Washington,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“For now, the world’s largest crude exporter is sticking with Russia.”