Most Americans have NO idea about this….
Russia IS a major oil resource country….
The European continent is NOT….
The Russian President just got cut off from the American President….
The new American President won’t be so accommodating, Right?
Maybe….
President Biden has been prompt in canceling a new additional Canada-US pipeline…
But what about the Russia to Germany one?
Hmmmm?
First the US CANNOT actually stop the German pipeline….
But Trump actually DID the thing to stop….
As soon as Biden got sworn in?
Construction began again and is almost 90% finished….
Hmmmm?
Wait?
Under Trump the construction STOPPED?
Why?
Could it be that Trump was so pissed at Merkel , the German Chancellor, for not being nice to him that he stopped the pipeline?
Oh, and told the Pentagon to cut the amount of troops based in Germany?
Probably….
Now quietly we have a chess move by the Russians that Congress just found out about….
Putin’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline would help the Russian economy….
It would flow oil via a pipeline NOT ship’s to Germany ….
It will make Merkel happy ….
And THAT IS a problem for Biden….
While the US is trying to mash down on Putin for his massive hacking of America’s defense and commercial servers and the jailing of supporters of a guy who wants Putin to have some sort democracy?
Germany’s Merkel is waiting for Russian oil and talking to the Chinese about technology ….One would think that the German would NOT want to get THAT close to same country that invaded it 60 years ago…
Hmmmm?
Another example of something Donald Trump touched that is turning to shit for Biden and American interests?
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…
…
A senior Senate aide on the call also defended the Biden administration against charges of moving slowly and softly, saying there was bipartisan opposition to the pipeline but the administration “needs to make sure that any sanction meets an evidentiary standard that can stand up in court.”
- “Time is short and they are under the gun,” the aide said, “but I think they are trying to avoid the clown car approach by the last administration which did things like sanction the Russian company Rusal, but had to walk it back after they almost collapsed the world aluminum market.”
- “Measuring twice to cut once is always sound policy,” the aide added, “especially when there is a sense of urgency to get this right.”…
…
- In the recently passed defense bill, Congress mandated that the administration sanction a broad array of activities involved in the pipeline.
The big picture: Pipeline construction halted during the Trump administration after Congress mandated sanctions in a 2019 bill and top Trump officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, issued aggressive threats.
- But the Russians resumed major construction on Nord Stream 2 after Biden took office.
The bottom line: The pipeline is more than 90% complete, and could be finished by the summer without a major intervention to stop it….