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U-Turn: Biden to Lift Sanctions on Russia’s Nordstream 2 Pipeline


21st Century Wire says…

The White House announced a major u-turn on its foreign policy with Russia this week. After years of levying sanctions against Moscow for any move it made globally, the Biden Administration has said it will not be blocking the completion of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 joint pipeline project with Germany. 

While this might seem like a counter-intuitive move by the vociferously anti-Russian Democratic Party mob, it is better viewed exclusively through a US domestic political context. By allowing the Russian pipeline to proceed will mean certain death for American LNG natural gas exports to Northern Europe – a policy with President Trump had pushed heavily. Killing those exports will have a potentially long-term negative effect on the US fracking market – which suits Biden’s ‘green’ policy agenda to the hilt. However, the move will no doubt dash the hopes of Europe’s ‘zero carbon’ greens and climate activists who view the Russia-German natural gas project as an affront to their Great Reset agenda.

NOTE: Had Trump dared to lift sanctions or do anything near what the Biden Admin is proposing,  the entire US Media and Democratic Establishment would’ve have held it up as proof that Trump is a “Russian agent” and “under the control of Vladimir Putin,” with Adam Schiff leading Congress into another impeachment trial. Funny how malleable some agendas are in Washington. 

The Hill reports…

The Biden administration won’t block the completion of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline and will announce an agreement with Germany on the natural gas line’s construction in the coming days, according to top officials. 

Reuters first reported Monday that the U.S. and Germany were close to reaching a deal following discussions among officials from both countries over continued U.S. concerns that the nearly complete pipeline would make Europe too heavily dependent on Russia for gas.

The U.S. has also warned the pipeline could rid Ukraine of the transit fees on gas currently pumped in a pipeline through the country.

President Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were not able to reach a deal on the pipeline during their meeting at the White House last week in what was likely the outgoing German leader’s last official visit to D.C.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that one source familiar with the discussions among top officials said a deal was expected to be unveiled in the coming days, with another person saying the announcement could come as early as Wednesday.

When asked about the reports on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that she expected “the State Department and others will have more on this soon.”

Psaki told reporters in the White House press briefing that the administration following Biden’s meeting with Merkel “made clear that this was a point of discussion, and that the president was planning to have a discussion about the fact that we have ongoing concerns about how the project threatens European energy security, undermines Ukraine security and the security of our eastern flank NATO allies and partners.”

“He had directed his team to work with her team to see how we can address those concerns, even as the pipeline was 90 percent finished when this administration took office,” she added.

The pipeline, which is now roughly 98 percent complete, had been opposed by U.S. officials under the two previous presidential administrations.

In the State Department’s Tuesday press breifing, spokesperson Ned Price emphasized that Biden in his meeting with Merkel last week said that the U.S. will “continue to oppose the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.”

However, he noted that the U.S. focus has now shifted from stopping construction to working with Germany and other allies to address Russia’s use of energy “potentially as a weapon and other malign activity.”

Continue this article at The Hill

READ MORE NORDSTREAM2 NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Water Files

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