US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Sunday identified three areas where the US could take additional steps to ramp up pressure on Russia as its war in Ukraine rages on: a ban on Russian oil imports, a declaration of war crimes, and help facilitating delivery of Polish fighter jets to Ukraine.
In separate answers in an interview on ABC News, Thomas-Greenfield mentioned those areas where the US was reviewing options and coordinating with allies.
She said President Biden was “in discussion with NATO allies” about a potential ban on Russian oil imports. “The President is working with his advisers, security advisers, as well as his energy advisers, on how to address these issues,” she said, adding the White House is mindful of how such a ban might affect gas prices.
She said the US has been “in close consultations with the Polish government, as well as with our other NATO allies,” on the notion of facilitating a transfer of Soviet-era fighter jets from Poland to Ukraine.
“We have not in any way opposed the Polish government providing these jets to Ukraine and we’re working, as you noted, to see how we can backfill for them,” she said, a reference to a plan being formulated to send F-16s to Poland.
And she said the US was “working with our partners to collect and provide information” on potential war crimes.
“Any attack on civilians is a war crime,” she said. Earlier this week, Biden stopped short of calling Russia’s actions in Ukraine a war crime.
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