Zelenskyy's top economic advisor urges global ban on Russian oil and gas: 'This is blood money'

• A top Ukrainian economic advisor is urging a global ban on Russian energy imports.
• "This is blood money," Oleg Ustenko said at a virtual event.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's top economic advisor called for a global ban on Russian oil and gas.

"What is really needed to be done is to introduce a full embargo worldwide on Russian oil and gas," advisor Oleg Ustenko said at a virtual event hosted by the Peterson Institute of International Economics. "This is blood money."

Ustenko also outlined some of the devastation wrought by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He said half of all businesses are shuttered with the rest operating well below their normal capabilities. The Ukrainian government estimates that the ongoing Russian assault has destroyed $100 billion worth of Ukrainian assets, Ustenko said.

In an op-ed published in the Guardian on Thursday, Ustenko made the case for worldwide ban on Russian energy to cripple President Vladimir Putin's ability to wage war in Ukraine. The Russian military campaign has only intensified in recent days with the shelling of civilian areas, including a deadly strike on a maternity ward in the besieged city of Mariupol.

"Please do not buy petrol or diesel from any company that is refining Russian oil," he wrote. "Do not fly on an airline that uses jet fuel made from Russian oil."

The Russian economy is heavily reliant on oil and gas for its exports. It's the third-biggest oil producer and it accounts for about 12% of global oil production. Jason Furman, a former top economist to the Obama administration, recently compared it to a "big gas station."

That's a big reason that Western nations are beginning to target the Russian oil and gas sector.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday imposed a ban on all Russian energy imports to the United States, including on oil and gas. It followed rising Congressional pressure for the Biden administration to bar those materials, despite its initial reluctance in order to keep gas prices from rising further.

The House approved a Russian oil and gas ban on Wednesday evening in a blowout bipartisan vote. Republicans and Democrats also passed a spending package with $13.6 billion in emergency financial and military assistance to Ukraine that now heads to the Senate.

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US alongside its European allies levied a wave of sanctions meant to devastate the Russian economy and punish political and business elites close to Putin. But the European Union hasn't followed suit on the oil and gas ban since the continent still largely relies on Russia for its energy needs, unlike the US.

European nations are attempting to reduce their dependence on Russian energy. The European Commission unveiled a plan on Tuesday to diversify gas supplies and speed up the rollout of renewable gases. The non-binding plan could reduce EU demand for Russian gas by two-thirds before the end of the year.