Russian oil sales are declining dramatically and are depriving the Kremlin of an import revenue source to fund the country's war against Ukraine, gathers Washington Post based on reports from unnamed sources in the White House.

US President Joe Biden's administration monitors private trading data, which show that Russia's crude sales have decreased from roughly 2 million barrels of oil per day as of March 15 to practically nothing on March 20.

The US has banned imports of Russian energy including oil, natural gas and coal, however, the nation across the Atlantic is not among the world's big buyers of Russian energy.

The UK also means to phase out purchases of such commodities, but not until late 2022, and the EU has announced a plan that will in time reduce member states' dependency on oil and gas from the war-waging nation.

Thus, private Western companies choosing to shun Russian energy constitutes is a form of self-imposed sanctioning that is leading the country's export of such goods to nearly disappear, and buyers in Asia are not appearing to fill the market gap, the newspaper writes.

Oil and gas sales form the Russian state's largest income source, comprising as much as 40 percent of state budget revenue.

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