GOP slams Biden for not halting Russian oil

Republican politicians across the US are criticising President Joe Biden over his domestic energy policies and urging his administration to do more to embrace domestic production.

The sanctions imposed by the US and its allies on Russia for its war with Ukraine so far do not include oil and gas exports from the country, a step that would have severely hurt Russia's ability to generate revenue.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and US Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio both urged Biden on Tuesday to take steps to stop Russian oil imports to the US.

"The recent events in Ukraine are yet another example of why we should be selling energy to our friends and not buying it from our enemies," Stitt wrote to Biden.

Portman said it doesn't make sense to import Russian oil at the same time the Biden administration shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would have transported tens of thousands of barrels each day from Canada to US refineries.

Cutting off Russian oil and gas imports could drive prices at the pump higher and have even more serious consequences for US allies in Europe, which relies on natural gas from Russia for a third of its fossil fuel consumption.

___ Washington: President Joe Biden says that dictators who do not "pay a price for their aggression" cause more chaos.

According to excerpts released Tuesday ahead of his first State of the Union address, Biden says that Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine was premeditated and unprovoked.

He will also highlight the importance of European allies in the speech before Congress at the US Capitol on Tuesday evening. Biden says that the alliance established after World War II to secure "peace and stability" in Europe is just as relevant now.

He said that Putin believed he could divide the NATO alliance, but he was wrong.

___ Cupertino: Apple has stopped selling its iPhone and other popular products in Russia as part of an intensifying corporate crackdown spurred by the country's invasion of Ukraine.

The trendsetting Silicon Valley company disclosed its punitive measures in a statement Tuesday amid worldwide outrage over Russian President Vladmir Putin's assault on Ukraine.

Other major US companies, including prominent tech firms such as Google and Twitter, also have curtailed their business in Russia. But Apple's actions could sharpen the backlash.

The iPhone and other devices such as the iPad and Mac computer are prized products for work and leisure. In the final three months of last year, for instance, Apple sold more smartphones than any other company in the world, according to the research firm International Data Corp, which didn't break out sales within Russia.

Apple also doesn't disclose how much of its roughly $365 billion in annual revenue comes from Russia either.

Besides halting sales of its devices, Apple said its mobile app store is blocking downloads of RT News and Sputnik News from outside Russia. It also has stopped live traffic updates on Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety measure, mirroring action Google has already taken.

"We will continue to evaluate the situation and are in communication with relevant governments on the actions we are taking," Apple said in its statement. "We join all those around the world who are calling for peace." ___ United Nations: The UN General Assembly will vote Wednesday afternoon on a resolution demanding that Russia immediately stop using force against Ukraine and withdraw all its military forces. The resolution also would condemn Moscow's decision "to increase the readiness of its nuclear forces." So far, the resolution has 92 co-sponsors from all over the world, including Afghanistan and Myanmar, both of which saw their elected governments ousted last year.

After Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution last Friday demanding that Russia immediately stop its use of force and send its forces home, the U.S. and other supporters started the procedural steps to call an emergency special session of the General Assembly where there are no vetoes.

The council approved an emergency special session of the 193-member assembly on Monday — the first in decades — and it began on Tuesday.

With 118 speakers signed up, the meeting was continuing Tuesday and is expected to wrap up on Wednesday morning, with the United States one of the last speakers. The resolution will then be put to a vote in the afternoon, General Assembly spokesperson Paulina Kubiak said Tuesday.

Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding but they do have clout as a reflection of international opinion.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)