Well it shows the diplomatic stance of NATO, if the Ukrainians think the war should not end until Crimea is liberated. This will put Vlad in a pretty bad corner back home, he would have a hard time spinning any sow's ear they give him into a silk purse.
i'd rather pay ten bucks a gallon than kiss one saudi's murdering, terrorist supporting, backstabbing ass....they can join in the humanitarian wave to support Ukraine in it's fight, or deal with a world that knows they tried to use the Ukrainians nightmare as a bargaining chip...U.S.-Saudi tensions complicate push for more oil
Strained relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States are complicating efforts by the Biden administration to convince Riyadh to step up its oil production — which could provide some relief to consumers amid high prices exacerbated by the Russian war in Ukraine.
The U.S. government has been increasingly critical of the Saudis since the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was lured to and killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and tensions over Yemen’s civil war, which have led to bipartisan criticism from Congress, have added to the strife.
It puts the administration in a difficult spot as it seeks to get Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to increase production.
“I hate the fact that we have to ask the Saudis to produce more oil,” Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), who was a top human rights official during the Obama administration, told reporters this week.
“I hate that the Biden administration has to figure out how to leverage our relationship with Saudi Arabia to get them to do that so that my constituents aren’t being squeezed at the pump,” he added.
Saudi Arabia’s control over strategic oil reserves may force the Biden administration, which is under pressure ahead of the midterms to provide some relief to consumers amid inflation and high gas prices, to reassess its strategy towards Riyadh.
The president has sought to recenter the relationship as pragmatic, focused on shared security interests and energy needs, while raising concerns over Riyadh’s human rights record.
This marked a sharp reversal from the Trump administration’s overly friendly, personal dealings with Riyadh and carte blanche support for the Saudi-led offensive in Yemen’s devastating civil war.
But Biden’s strategy now appears to have put the administration at a disadvantage in a global time of need.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the day-to-day ruler of the kingdom and heir apparent, reportedly refused a call from Biden as part of outreach in the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The White House refuted the report by The Wall Street Journal, with press secretary Jen Psaki calling it “inaccurate.”
“The president's focus is really on our relationship moving forward — where we can work together, how we can work together on economic and national security here at home. And he looks forward to that continuing,” she told reporters during a briefing last week.
High gasoline prices exacerbated by the invasion have put Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in strategic positions of power as members of OPEC+, the primary grouping of oil-producing nations.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE can add more oil into play because they have “spare capacity,” barrels that can be quickly moved onto the market and sustained for a period of time.
But Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have resisted calls to increase supply, part of agreements reached with Russia to strengthen their own economies, according to Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar for the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
“Saudi Arabia and, to a lesser extent, the UAE are relying on a hard-fought OPEC+ oil production agreement with Russia as the basis for their national development and economic transition planning,” he wrote in a recent article.
The Saudis and Emiratis have also resisted issuing blunt statements condemning Russia’s invasion. Instead, their top officials have criticized the U.S.
Prince Mohammed, who U.S. intelligence said approved a plot to “capture or kill” Khashoggi, said in a wide-ranging interview published this month in The Atlantic that he “simply” did not care what Biden thought of him and suggested that the U.S. alienating the Saudi monarchy would hurt the president.
“It’s up to him to think about the interests of America,” the magazine quoted him as saying and then shrugging. “Go for it.”
Senior U.S. officials last visited Riyadh on Feb. 17 in a bid to get Saudi Arabia to increase its oil output ahead of the Russian invasion. State Department spokesman Ned Price said this week that “we are in touch with our Saudi partners on a daily basis.”
But the Saudis and the UAE seem intent on nursing their grievances with the U.S.
UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba reportedly said this month that Washington and Abu Dhabi are going through a “stress test.”
“But I am confident that we will get out of it and get to a better place,” he reportedly said during a defense conference in Abu Dhabi.
The UAE is waiting for the administration to approve a delivery of F-35 fighter jets to the country and has also pressed Biden to redesignate Yemen’s Houthi separatists as a foreign terrorist organization, which the president revoked.
Biden has said he is considering reimposing the terrorist designation, but human rights groups and Democratic lawmakers have warned it would block the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
Katherine Bauer, a fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and former senior Treasury official who served in Israel and the Gulf, said specific tensions between the U.S. and Gulf nations are part of a broader feeling of American retreat from the region.
“The sense that the U.S. isn’t paying enough attention ... I think it adds to this sense, from the perspective out there, that the U.S. has not been the most reliable partner in the recent past,” she said.
But for some, warming relations with the Gulf in exchange for increased oil output is akin to accepting Russian energy exports since both are responsible for major human rights abuses.
Biden in his first month in office ended U.S. military support for offensive Saudi operations in Yemen, where human rights groups have documented thousands of civilian casualties caused by Saudi-led airstrikes, a layer of indiscriminate violence on top of the war-torn country being classified as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
“I think what the Saudis have done in Yemen is actually worse, but it's just gotten less attention,” said William Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
“I think if even a fraction of the pressure that Russia's feeling were put on Saudi Arabia, there'd be a good chance of stopping the killing in Yemen,” he added.
Republicans have made blaming Biden for the high gas prices a key attack strategy, though.
International factors, rather than Biden policies, are the main driver of high prices.
Both Republicans and some administration officials have also pushed for more U.S. drilling.
“We are on war footing, we are in an emergency, and we have to responsibly increase short-term supply,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said at an industry conference this month.
It’s a line of argument that has support from some U.S. allies in Europe, including Greece.
“I don't think that we should rely on Russia or on the Gulf countries for our oil imports, we should definitely see the U.S, as an option,” Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Varvitsiotis Miltiadis told The Hill in an interview in Washington this week.
“We have to develop the energy resources that are tangible and near to us in order to make the system more stable,” he added.
It would take time for U.S. companies to bring more oil online, however, so the administration is looking for the most immediate solution.
Kurt Volker, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, said the administration is pursuing the right strategy by looking to Gulf countries to offset energy shortfalls due to the Russian invasion. He argued that the European Union and United Kingdom should follow Biden’s lead and ban Russian oil and gas.
“I think it’s the right thing to do. We should be talking to everybody about the oil and gas markets,” Volker said.
US-Saudi tensions complicate push for more oil
Strained relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States are complicating efforts by the Biden administration to convince Riyadh to step up its oil production — which could provide some relief…thehill.com
Everybody knows MBS is a psycho and an asshole, even the Saudi's, he has many enemies at home. I'm surprised the CIA hasn't arranged to get his fucking head literally chopped off by now. A new attitude there would help a lot, someone with a brain and a bit of a heart running the show. They've basically got a Putin there now and perhaps some are starting to make the connection, both inside and outside the country. If you don't want war between the Saudi's and Iran, as it tries to get back on it's feet economically and develop it's oil wealth, then MBS has gotta go. I don't think the Iranians are eager for war, now that they have a good chance of getting an agreement on ending sanctions. The new reality that is emerging from this war is changing how many look at the world, the unintended consequences of war and it's creating opportunities for some, while shattering the dreams of Russians.
moosehead or molson....i recently lost a lot of respect for Canada when budweiser became the most popular beer in Canada....i feel betrayed...
There are three or four conditions that will result in Russia using its nukes (read it a few days ago). The Russian state being in danger of being lost. But with no one invading that is not on the table. A missile taking out one of their nuclear installations. I can not remember the rest, I do think there was only one more case though. But I think they were written to deal with ICBM's.
You have not heard them asking for more assistance since 2014? I have. And they can not secretly get the equipment, our governments have a certain level of accountability and the politicians have to account for the military aid going to Ukraine. There is no secretly arming them. And the Russians surely have spies in Ukraine which might notice a plane overhead.
The bulk of Nato's capability comes from the US. If a country does cross someone like Trump and he does not like it he might just not have the US come to the country's aid when needed. Trump is like that. Care packages. How does a Nato country send aid without alarming Russia? And what country would have sent billions of dollars in aid without a imminent threat? How do they sell it to the taxpayer? When Trump has been claiming the countries do not spend enoug
it sure would be a shame if a few hundred fire bombs burned thousands of acres of russian crops this summer...Kremlin Warns Against Panic Buying as Food Prices Rise Fast
The Kremlin has told Russians not to panic buy staple goods such as sugar and buckwheat as prices rise at a record rate and shortages have been reported across the country.
“Russians have absolutely no need to run to the shops and buy-up buckwheat, sugar and toilet paper,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday, when asked about reports of panic buying.
“The fuss around supplies in food stores is extremely emotional,” he said.
Prices have risen at their fastest rate in more than two decades as Russia starts to feel the economic consequences from its invasion of Ukraine, data published by the Rosstat statistics agency shows.
The dramatic fall in the ruble, combined with Western financial sanctions and airspace bans, has disrupted the supply of imported goods and foods into the country.
Despite being a net exporter of sugar, prices have risen by more than 15% over the last two weeks according to government statistics. Shortages have been reported in many cities.
“Sugar deliveries are going on without interruption and factories are working round-the-clock,” Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev told the state-run Rossiya-24 TV channel later Friday.
“As for the coming season, we are significantly increasing the land dedicated to growing sugar. That will allow us to provide enough sugar not only for Russia, but also our partners in the Eurasian Economic Union,” added Patrushev, who is the son of the powerful Security Council secretary and former FSB director Nikolai Patrushev.
Peskov also said the government had “not formed a position” on whether it would seek to create a government sugar monopoly to control supply and prices.
The Kremlin has already banned some sugar and other agricultural exports and has previously rolled out price controls for staple goods at times of high inflation.
Kremlin Warns Against Panic Buying as Food Prices Rise Fast - The Moscow Times
The Kremlin has told Russians not to panic buy staple goods such as sugar and buckwheat as prices rise at a record rate and shortages have been reported across the country.“Russians have absolutely no need to run to the shops and buy-up buckwheat, sugar and toilet paper,” Kremlin spokesman...www.themoscowtimes.com
Moscow's Department Stores Empty After Western Luxury Brands Halt Sales in Russia
Hundreds of Western brands have pulled out of Russia over its invasion of its pro-Western neighbor, symbolizing Russia's growing economic isolation and its pariah status in the global community.
As a result, the glittering department stores of Russia's capital Moscow — where one could once find nearly every major fashion house's clothes — now stand empty.
War
Has anyone posted this interactive explainer from the Financial Times yet? Worth checking out. No Paywall. https://ig.ft.com/russias-war-in-ukraine-mapped/www.rollitup.org
punish him? like putin is punishing Ukraine?
oh my god, not the administrator...
I don't think that would be helpful, terrorism would not be in this case, fomenting revolution, but not revenge and retribution as the motives for pointless violence. If Belarus attacks Ukraine, then treating the Belarus people and soldiers as victims would convert them into allies. Invading them would be a mistake, but arming partisans and having clandestine talks with their officers about supporting a coup, could lead to change. After Ukraine becomes militarily strong in the region, they might have an aggressive attitude towards Lukashenko, but not towards Belarus, a potential future ally.
we can talk about anyone we want to, and what are you or anyone else going to do about it? fuck all, that's what...
do you seriously think those thousand had any choice? "come, comrade, is time to praise putin in mass, if you resist, i'll throw you in a cell and keep you there till you die"....
then why are you still here? you should be busy helping the Ukraines kill invaders
ok real man...why are you still here posting this shit, instead of in Ukraine, helping the good fight?
Don’t take your negativity out on me, the Ukrainian people can really use your help. I copied a link for all the tough guy’s in this forum to go fight along side the Ukrainian people. You can tell the Russian army what you think about Putin face to face! Like real men!!!
he won't, he's not got the balls to do it, all he does is shake his tiny dick, trying to act bigger than he ever could be
no, i won't mark your words, and you should be happy i won't...marked words have a way of coming back and humiliating the ignorant people who spoke them...
now your stupidity is shining bright...attack another country for something they're thinking about? do you punch people you don't know because you think they may be thinking about doing something to you? a world war does not eventually have to happen. some people stay at the arrested stage of development that keeps them afraid of their neighbors, and some people evolve, and realize that they ARE their neighbors, and there is nothing to fear from them...do us and yourself a favor, evolve
ahhh, i didn't understand, you're a huge HOMOPHOBE...now i get it...
fucking hypocrite, and too ignorant to realize it. you have a rough time ahead of you, how long it lasts depends on you. you can pull your head out of your ass and try to educate yourself, or you can continue on the way you have been, and be a miserable hateful bigot. up to you
no, China won't prop him up...any more than they're expected to. you assume sanctions are supposed to be global and total. they purposely left a few holes to keep the world economy from crumbling. the money russia makes from china won't be nearly enough to sustain them, but the materials China will get from russia will keep them moving along the capitalistic path they have started down, away from faceless communism...away from putin...same with India, they're buying cheap ass oil from putin, which minimizes his income, while giving India a much needed boost.
