Posted on 02/27/2021 1:23:27 PM PST by Mariner
A briefing between the State Department and congressional staff over Vladimir Putin's Russia-Germany gas pipeline got tense this week, with Biden officials deflecting questions about why they hadn't moved faster and more aggressively with sanctions to stop its completion.
The Biden officials also denied negotiating with the Germans over a potential side deal to allow the pipeline to be finished.
Why it matters: As we reported earlier this week, some allies are worried that Biden is shaky on Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and the fight is a significant test of whether the new president's tough rhetoric against Russia will be matched by action.
Russian opponents, including top officials in the Ukrainian and Polish governments, worry that Biden doesn't want to antagonize Angela Merkel and won't inflict serious costs on the Germans.
And members of Congress — both Republicans and Democrats — were underwhelmed by a report that the Biden State Department recently sent to Congress, which only targeted one Russian ship for sanctions. The Trump administration had already sanctioned that ship, the Fortuna.
Behind the scenes: The first call between the senior State Department officials and Republican and Democratic national security staffers from the House and Senate happened on Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
It’s always the palm greasing we have to watch.
...Biden doesn’t want to antagonize Angela Merkel ...
Yeah, I’m sure the Dems have got it worked out so that no Dem politician gets left behind.
Um, you mean other than preventing us from shipping copious amounts of LNG to Germany?
Much more concerned with Wall Street’s addiction to Chinese money and labor. Don’t care where Germany gets natural gas.
Sanctions are illegitimate to use merely because we don’t like a business contract signed between two other nations. The proper thing for a capitalist society to do is to compete.
They’ll still be using Russian gas and oil. They just won’t be getting it by way of Ukraine who bleeds off a tremendous amount. And what’s the alternative? Dependency on Middle Eastern gas and oil? And on a deeper level, the more trade there is between two nations, the less chance there is of warfare.You can’t have it both ways, that you want Russia to be in the family of nations, but you refuse to let them participate in capitalism.
The reason America opposes this pipeline bypassing Ukraine, is because politicians like Biden are paid a lot of money by Ukraine. And because the neocons are pushing for permanent hostility with Russia. DC is wrong on this one.
I noticed nobody has any problem with Europe using Russian gas and oil, as long as it passes through Ukraine. Interesting.
We should be worrying about our own pipeline with Canada rather than stopping other nations from creating their own pipelines.
How many NATO countries do you want addicted to Russian oil & gas?
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That’s their decision to make, not ours. And the socialist, environmental extremist, and pro-LGBT NATO countries are no better than the Russians.
Miss him yet?????
“Biden is shaky”
They got that right.
How many NATO countries do you want addicted to Russian oil & gas?
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Why is there a NATO? WW2 ended over 75 years ago. Maybe we should pay attention to our own energy independence.
I noticed nobody has any problem with Europe using Russian gas and oil, as long as it passes through Ukraine. Interesting.
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Just think of Ukraine as a big toll booth for Dems to collect graft on an international scale and it all becomes clear.
Ukraine collects fees for the oil to traverse the country. Splits the fees with Dems. Dems use their control of the US government to use the U.S. military as “protection” for Ukraine.
Since Biden is taking the U.S. out of the energy production business, it stands to reason that he would support our allies in seeking alternative suppliers.
“This pipeline is really none of our business and has no effect on US interests.”
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I agree 100%.
That is how I have always viewed it. And I have no love for Russia, but I get the uneasy feeling they actually have more liberty than we do.
And I can’t express just how that makes me feel.
That, I can get behind. I just can’t understand why the USA wants to shut down Canadian pipelines. Fine, don’t interfere with Russian pipelines — but, don’t pick on Canadian ones either.
“Why is there a NATO?”
Fair question — but, so long as there is a NATO, why make it even weaker?
“Maybe we should pay attention to our own energy independence.”
Agreed — I’ve been saying that here for many years. BTW, Canada — you know, that big snowbank north of you — could supply all the oil and gas you need to achieve N. American energy independence (even after Biden shuts down fracking) — if only, our respective government ‘leaders’ would get out of the way.
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