President Joe Biden’s announcement of an oil ban on Russia was a small but symbolic action toward Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine. However, given that only 8% of U.S. oil imports come from Russia, the embargo will not do much in the way of deterrence. For that to happen, the European Union must impose its own oil embargo against Russia — a difficult task given Europe’s significant reliance on Russian oil. Yet, such an embargo would do much to halt Putin’s despotic tactics. When, or if, that happens, it will be the beginning of the end of Russia’s petrostate, and ultimately the end of Putin.

Russia is an energy-producing behemoth. It is the third-largest producer of petroleum, second-largest producer of dry natural gas, and second-largest crude oil producer in the world. It is the EU’s main supplier of energy, accounting for nearly 30% of all oil and 40% of all natural gas imports. Given this significant dependency, any punitive action on Russian energy would have dire consequences for the energy demands of the people of Europe.