How the tricky politics of a Russian oil ban roiled Washington in 100 hours

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) noted he’s “all for” banning Russian oil, but suggested the White House had already alleviated the need for congressional action. | Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images

Several factors drove congressional Democrats to prod their own president to ban Russian oil imports with stunning speed. But perhaps the most important was the messenger: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy brought three major requests to hundreds of lawmakers over the weekend, as Russian attacks intensified in his country. But U.S. lawmakers saw ending fossil-fuel purchases from Moscow as the one Zelenskyy ask they could actually deliver on.

With Western nations uniformly rejecting Zelenskyy’s calls to establish

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