Biden says 70% of March's record inflation was driven by 'Putin's price hike' in gasoline

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the record inflation figures seen in March were largely due to a surge in the price of gasoline.

According to a report by the US Department of Labor, gas prices were up 18.3% in March after jumping 6.6% in February. It said consumer prices had risen by 8.5% in March from a year earlier, the biggest 12-month increase since 1981.

In a speech at an Iowa mill on Tuesday, Biden said that 70% of the increase in prices in March came from Putin. We need to address this challenge quickly.

In March, Biden announced that the US had banned imports of Russian natural gas, oil, and coal in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia is the world's third largest producer of crude oil, and the world's second largest exporter, according to the International Energy Agency.

In Iowa on Tuesday, Biden said that Putin's invasion of Ukraine has driven up gas prices and food prices all over the world.

In response to the high gas prices, the EPA is expected to introduce an emergency waiver to allow E15 gasoline to be sold throughout the US this summer, according to Biden. Some experts have warned that the lower energy content of E15 means motorists will get lower mileage per gallon and may have to fill up more frequently.

He said that you will not see a bag over the pump that has the cheapest gas.

Biden said that families' ability to fill up their tanks with gas shouldn't depend on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away.

The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.08 on Wednesday, according to the American Automobile Association. The average was $4.33 a month ago and $2.86 a year ago.