White House says domestic oil market resilience played into Russia sanctions timing

Jan 10 (Reuters) - The current resilience of the U.S. oil market was key to the White House's decision to impose significant sanctions on Russia's energy sector on Friday, a spokesperson for the Biden administration said.

The strength of the domestic oil market allowed the administration to change its tactic in trying to hobble Russia's economy in its war against Ukraine, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh said in a statement.

"For sanctions to be successful, they must be sustainable. That doesn’t mean they should be costless – sanctions never are – but to succeed they must impact the target more than they damage the U.S. and global economy," Singh said.

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

((Gabriella.Borter@thomsonreuters.com; 646 223 5942;))