The pastor and author joins many others who are calling upon the Biden administration to stop importing Russian oil in response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Pastor and author Rick Warren is one of the latest church leaders to call out the Biden administration for refusing to stop purchasing oil from Russia in response to their unprovoked attack on Ukraine. Warren, who leads the Saddleback Church in California and is the author of "The Purpose Driven Life," took to social media to air his concerns over the "murder of Ukraine."
"Every day that the U.S. continues to buy 600,000 barrels of Russian oil A DAY, we are funding the murder of Ukraine. Appalling. Indefensible. Stop it now," Warren shared on Facebook and Twitter to his millions of followers.
The Christian Headlines reported that Warren had "been in contact with many pastors" in Ukraine, Poland, and Russia and urged the Christian faithful to continuously pray for the embattled region.
According to Reuters, the U.S. imports approximately 8% of its oil supply from Russia. Up to 80% of Americans said that the U.S. should stop buying oil from Russia, as per a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday also called upon the Biden administration to stop importing Russian oil.
Sen. Rubio argued on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" that the Biden administration should develop a plan to finally end its purchase of oil from Russia. He suggested using reserves to "buffer" the effect of cutting oil from Russia and added, "we have more than enough ability in this country to produce enough oil to make up for the percentage that we buy from Russia."
Sen. Rubio added that the Biden administration's refusal to stop buying oil from Russia shows that Russian President Vladimir Putin "has leverage over us." The Republican leader argued, "Why would we want that leverage to continue?"
Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to stall in its decision on whether to stop buying oil from Russia. According to Fox News, an administration official said, "no decision has been made at this time." The official added that they are still "considering a possible U.S. oil import ban."
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that the Biden administration remains undecided about buying oil from Russia. This is despite the many calls President Joe Biden has been receiving from Republican leaders, church leaders, and even the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is campaigning for even more severe sanctions against Russia and more aid for Ukraine.
"No decision has been made at this point about a ban on importing oil from Russia and those discussions are going on internally, and also with our counterparts and partners in Europe and around the world," Psaki said on Monday, as reported by the Washington Times. "The president is focused on ensuring we are continuing to take steps to deliver punishing economic consequences while taking all action necessary to limit the impact of prices."
On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the U.S. is still in talks with international partners on how to coordinate a ban on Russian oil imports. He said that discussions were focused on ensuring that there would be enough oil supply in the world market, given that Russia supplies up to one-third of Europe's oil imports.
