“The decision today is not without cost here at home. Putin’s war is already hurting American families at the gas pump,” Biden said when announcing the ban, vowing to take steps to “minimize Putin’s price hike here at home.”
Hours later, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force one that Americans were facing a spike in gas prices “because of the actions of President Putin.”
“This is a Putin spike at the gas pump, not one prompted by our sanctions,” she said.
Psaki said gas prices have increased across the United States by an average of 75 cents since earlier this year when Russian military forces lined up at the Ukrainian border, and those prices have only surged in the nearly three weeks since Russia launched its invasion.
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