Biden: Sanctioning Russian Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Would Be 'Counterproductive'
President Joe Biden doubled down this week on confirming his image as a clueless party insider with exactly zero incentive to stand up for the American people and their allies.
Biden defended his decision to not pursue sanctions against the companies responsible for the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline, which will help Russia further dominate the European gas market and pump roughly 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas into Europe annually.
In a video shared by the Daily Caller on Tuesday, Biden told reporters it would be “counterproductive” to impose sanctions, given how much of the project was complete.
“I have been opposed to Nord Stream 2 from the beginning but it only has — it’s almost completed,” Biden said. “To go ahead and impose sanctions now would, I think, be counterproductive in terms of our European relations.”
BIDEN: “I have been opposed to Nord Stream 2 from the beginning but it’s almost completed… Impose sanctions now would be counterproductive in terms of our European relations.” pic.twitter.com/IhJKIW35iP
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 25, 2021
Let’s get this straight. Biden canceled phase four of the Keystone XL Pipeline on the first day of his presidency, destroying some 11,000 jobs and infuriating one of the nation’s closest allies, and that was all well and good.
When it comes to Russia developing an international pipeline that will bolster its economy and directly threaten other European nations, however, hold the phone — it’s just not worth lifting a finger.
And the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline will have devastating effects on other European nations.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a news release just last week stating as much.
“We will continue to oppose the completion of this project, which would weaken European energy security and that of Ukraine and Eastern flank NATO and EU countries,” Blinken said. “Our opposition to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is unwavering.”
Opposition may be unwavering in the State Department, but Biden could care less about the fact that the Nord Stream 2 will circumvent Ukraine, effectively allowing Russia to wholly deprive the nation of vital gas transit fees and undermining its ability to deter further aggression from Russia.
Indeed, Biden’s foreign policy appears to amount to much the same thing as former President Barack Obama’s: Placate other nations ad infinitum in the hopes that Democratic Party insiders will continue to get by on mere influence peddling and need not commit to any meaningful stances or policies.
Biden is a wet noodle and, considering that the Democratic Party spent the last four years screaming about unsubstantiated claims of Russian collusion, something akin to a hypocrite given his apparent obsession with doing anything he can to softball Putin.
The idea that sanctions would be “counterproductive” is a terrible way of saying “we would rather squeeze some goodwill out of our apparent leniency later on down the road,” and everyone knows it.
“[I]t shouldn’t be lost on us that not only does the Nord Stream 2 enrich & strengthen Putin’s hold on power,” Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas tweeted in response to the statement, “also, it’s in direct contradiction to Biden’s stated claim that the ‘climate crisis’ is now a major factor in his administration’s foreign policy.”
“it shouldn’t be lost on us that not only does the Nord Stream 2 enrich & strengthen Putin’s hold on power, also, it’s in direct contradiction to Biden’s stated claim that the ‘climate crisis’ is now a major factor in his administration’s foreign policy”https://t.co/dL4ne1GyJE
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 22, 2021
Biden protects Russian pipelines and cancels American ones. He preserves Russian jobs and destroys American ones.
Alas, so long as the Democratic Party is represented by globalist elites, the president will continue to put the desires of the rest of the world ahead of the actual livelihoods of Americans everywhere.
It’s going to be a long four years.
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