Biden officials to meet with business leaders to discuss Ukraine sanctions

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Biden officials to meet with business leaders to discuss Ukraine sanctions

On Monday, top Biden administration officials will meet with executives from banks, oil companies and other firms to discuss the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the ensuing sanctions from the U.S. and its European allies.

A White House official said that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will hold an in-person discussion this afternoon with companies representing the banking, clean energy, oil, food and manufacturing industries.

The companies that are attending include Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Petroleum, JPMorgan Chase, Visa, Bank of America, Land O'Lakes, Cargill, U.S. Steel, Dow, Pattern and Invenergy, the official said.

Administration officials will brief the business leaders on the U.S. ban on Russian oil and other financial issues related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The US has led a global push to penalize the Kremlin over its nearly one month ago, the biggest attack on a European state in decades.

A key part of the Central Bank of Russia has been hampered by sanctions from the West, cutting off certain financial institutions and sanctioning some of the Russian elites who have close ties to President Vladimir Putin, and preventing them from selling dollars, euros and other foreign currency in its roughly $630 billion reserve stockpile.

The U.S. has also ordered a ban on Russian oil imports that President Biden has warned will hurt Americans at the gas pump.

When he announced the penalty, Biden said that freedom is going to cost.

The White House has urged energy suppliers to boost production in order to fight rising prices. The Biden administration also accused executives of prioritizing investor returns over higher output and has suggested that oil companies are keeping gas prices high even though the cost of oil is lower.

Oil and gas companies shouldn't pad their profits at the expense of hardworking Americans, Biden said last week.