United States President Joe Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports in opposition to Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour Ukraine. 

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Mr Biden held a video conference call with the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom on Monday, asking for their support to ban Russian oil imports.

A senior U.S. official told Reuters that no final decision had been made at the time of reporting, but “it is likely just the U.S if it happens.”

The decision to ban imports from Russia had also been pushed by Democrats and Republicans in Congress after Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky requested assistance during a video call with U.S. lawmakers over the weekend.

The White House said Mr Biden would speak on Tuesday morning to announce “actions to continue to hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine”.

Since the invasion on February 24, energy prices have been on the rise, making the Russian Urals exports even more lucrative. 

On Monday, Oil prices hit a 14-year high, the AAA pegged the national average at $4.17 per gallon, surpassing the previous high of $4.11 in 2008.

Last week, oil giant Shell purchased 725,000 barrels of Urals, a Russian flagship crude product at a discount price of $28.50.

Mr Biden had earlier said it would allow energy payments to continue, saying his administration was trying to avert reducing global energy supplies or push up prices for Western consumers even more as the U.S. does not import Russian natural gas.

However, in light of the ongoing military onslaught in Ukraine, more stringent measures have had to be adopted. 

In a wave of sanctions by global powers, the U.S. and the European Union sanctioned Russia’s largest banks, its central bank and finance ministry, and moved to block certain financial institutions from the SWIFT network, a messaging system for international payments.