Marco Rubio of the GOP suggests that the US should focus on reducing Russian oil while increasing its own energy output.

• To stop Russia from attacking Ukraine, the U.S. and its allies must impose economic sanctions on Russia by preventing it from exporting oil and natural gas, according to Sen. Marco Rubio.
• The Florida Republican stated, "I believe we have the ability and obligation to act."
• Rubio stated that the U.S. must increase its energy production to match the levels of 2019 and 2020, when the country was exporting more than it imported.

To discourage Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and its allies must hinder Russia's export of oil and natural gas, according to Sen. Marco Rubio, who stated this on CNBC on Tuesday.

In an interview on "Squawk Box," the Florida Republican, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin believes he can attack Ukraine due to two reasons: firstly, oil and gas, and secondly, nuclear weapons. The interviewee emphasized the need to remove one of these two factors in order to prevent the conflict.

Earlier this week, Putin increased the alert level of his nuclear deterrent forces, indicating that removing Russia's nuclear weapons is not a viable option.

Although the U.S. and Western nations have imposed various measures to pressure Putin, they have not directly targeted Russian oil due to concerns about increasing energy prices. On Tuesday, U.S. and international crude prices reached their highest levels since 2014, following Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine several months ago.

Rubio believes that Russia should be prevented from exporting its oil and gas as leverage in the current Ukraine crisis.

On Monday, Canada announced that it would prohibit the import of Russian oil, marking the first country to directly target Russia's energy industry. Previously, Germany had halted the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project, which aimed to increase the flow of Russian gas to Germany.

Rubio stated that he hopes Biden will use the State of the Union address to motivate the US to achieve pre-pandemic oil and natural gas production levels.

Rubio stated that he would like to hear the president announce that America will increase its oil and natural gas production and export it, while gradually reducing and eventually eliminating imports of Russian oil.

Russia has not traditionally been a major supplier of oil to the U.S., but imports from Russia have been on the rise in recent years. According to Rubio, the U.S. should aim to return to the position it held in 2019 and 2020, when it was exporting more oil than it was importing. Rubio referred to this as "the ultimate leverage" against Russia. In a later tweet, he urged the U.S. to redirect funds from "criminals like Putin."

Rubio stated on "Squawk Box" that it is crucial to maintain economic pressure on Putin.

On Monday, Russia's currency, the ruble, plummeted due to international sanctions. In an attempt to stop the decline, the Russian central bank increased its key interest rate from 9.5% to 20%.

Despite the Russian stock market in Moscow being closed Monday and Tuesday, Russian exchange-traded funds experienced a decline in trading in the U.S. over the past two sessions.