Russia oil ban: White House announces plan to cut off energy imports.

E.U. officials, meanwhile, unveiled a separate plan to cut Russian gas imports by approximately two-thirds this year — though questions quickly emerged about whether the European nations would be able to achieve that goal.

The consecutive blows to Russia’s energy sector immediately reverberated throughout the global economy. Gas prices in the United States continued their rapid ascent, climbing to an average of $4.17 a gallon Tuesday, up from $3.62 one week ago, according to AAA. Economists have begun warning that the energy price shock could hit the European economy particularly hard. Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of oil, and reliance on its exports is so high that Western leaders had initially ruled out targeting its exports. But Russia’s sustained invasion of Ukraine led Western leaders to change course, even if the decision proves particularly painful for European nations, some of which depend on Russia for as much as 80 percent of their energy needs.

The White House announcement came amid a rising bipartisan clamor to intensify economic penalties against Russia. As Biden administration officials readied their plan in recent days, they held a wide range of talks in an attempt to contain the economic fallout. These included discussions with other oil-producing nations, exploring how the United States could protect American consumers from higher prices.

The energy restrictions and rising prices now stand to pose a dramatic test for Americans and Europeans being asked by their leaders to endure economic hardship to support Ukrainians.

“Americans have rallied to support the Ukrainian people and have made it clear we will not be part of subsidizing Putin’s war,” Biden said Tuesday, explaining why he was banning the imports. “… This is a step that we’re taking to inflict further pain on Putin, but there will be costs as well here in the United States.”

Biden added: “I said I would level with the American people from the beginning, and when I first spoke to this, I said defending freedom is going to cost us as well in the United States.”

The global response was immediate. Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted to the announcement with a decree instructing his Cabinet to produce a list of items to stop importing and exporting until the end of 2022. Russia also this week threatened to cut the flow of gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe in response to the West’s financial penalties.

But the political and corporate backlash against Russia has been tremendous. Also on Tuesday, global energy giant Shell apologized for past purchases of Russian petroleum products and agreed to phase out all involvement with the country’s oil and gas industry. It joined ExxonMobil and BP in suspending its operations in Russia.

Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, were encouraged by the steps taken by the Europeans and Americans to reduce dependence on Russian energy imports, according to Sergey Nikiforov, a spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. But Ukrainian leaders have also pushed the West for a much broader ban on Russian goods.

“We would like to have an embargo on all Russian goods and services — not only oil and gas. We want all world ports and all world channels closed for Russian vessels,” Nikiforov said in an interview. “Everyone should try to do more. But it is important that those countries started taking some steps to reduce their dependence on Russian fossil fuels.”

The United States has already deployed a number of economic measures to hurt Russia, including imposing sanctions on its central bank and on oligarchs close to Putin. But none is nearly so sensitive to the White House politically as energy prices. Biden has already spent much of the past year on the defensive over inflation, and gas is the most visible commodity paid for daily by tens of millions of American consumers.

Signs have emerged that the new moves could push costs even higher, with some analysts speculating that average gas prices could breach $5 a gallon later this year.

Higher gas prices affect many sectors of the economy. Airlines raise their prices, passing along the higher costs to consumers. Drivers often change their behavior, cutting back on travel. And prices on products that are delivered by trucks also can increase, creating a new wave of inflationary pressures.

Russian oil accounts for only roughly 3 percent of U.S. consumption, and these imports are expected to be easily made up by other sources in the United States. And while the Europeans are highly dependent on Russian gas, the plan they introduced Tuesday appears to allow for the continued importation of Russian products should alternative energy sources fail to materialize in time.

But analysts say the moves still inject an unprecedented…