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FEBRUARY 16, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki answered questions about Covid relief, a lawsuit against former President Trump, and Iraq at a briefing.
White House Daily Briefing
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki answered questions about Covid relief, a lawsuit against former President Trump, and Iraq at a briefing.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, meet with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on March 9, 2016, during Biden's official visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
White House: Netanyahu to be first Middle East leader Biden will call
“Israel is a country where we have an important strategic security relationship, and our team is fully engaged—not at the head-of-state level yet but very soon,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
Feb. 17 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be the first Middle East leader President Joe Biden will call, the White House said on Tuesday.
“His first call with a leader in the region will be with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, adding that she did not have an exact timeline for the call, but that “it will be soon.”
The comments by Psaki come amid mounting speculation, especially by Israeli pundits, on the delay in calling the Israeli leader by Biden, who took office nearly a month ago.
The president has spoken with a number of close U.S. allies, including leaders in Canada, Britain, France, Japan, Mexico, Germany, South Korea and even some foes, such as China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. He has not yet spoken with a Mideast leader.
“Israel is, of course, an ally,” Psaki said. “Israel is a country where we have an important strategic security relationship, and our team is fully engaged—not at the head-of-state level quite yet but very soon.”
For his part, Netanyahu has downplayed the fact that he has not received a personal call from Biden.
The president is “making calls to world leaders according to the order he sees fit,” Netanyahu said last week. “The Israel-U.S. alliance is strong and so is our friendship of almost 40 years, though we may not agree on everything.”
Last week, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, who now serves as chairman of World Likud, made a much blunter remark on the situation via tweet: “Might it now be time to call the leader of Israel, the closest ally of the U.S.?” source from JNS
White House: Netanyahu to be first Middle East leader Biden will call
“Israel is a country where we have an important strategic security relationship, and our team is fully engaged—not at the head-of-state level yet but very soon,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
Feb. 17 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be the first Middle East leader President Joe Biden will call, the White House said on Tuesday.
“His first call with a leader in the region will be with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, adding that she did not have an exact timeline for the call, but that “it will be soon.”
The comments by Psaki come amid mounting speculation, especially by Israeli pundits, on the delay in calling the Israeli leader by Biden, who took office nearly a month ago.
The president has spoken with a number of close U.S. allies, including leaders in Canada, Britain, France, Japan, Mexico, Germany, South Korea and even some foes, such as China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. He has not yet spoken with a Mideast leader.
“Israel is, of course, an ally,” Psaki said. “Israel is a country where we have an important strategic security relationship, and our team is fully engaged—not at the head-of-state level quite yet but very soon.”
For his part, Netanyahu has downplayed the fact that he has not received a personal call from Biden.
The president is “making calls to world leaders according to the order he sees fit,” Netanyahu said last week. “The Israel-U.S. alliance is strong and so is our friendship of almost 40 years, though we may not agree on everything.”
Last week, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, who now serves as chairman of World Likud, made a much blunter remark on the situation via tweet: “Might it now be time to call the leader of Israel, the closest ally of the U.S.?” source from JNS
Construction on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline resumed in earnest on Feb. 6 after more than a year. A gas-line facility in Germany was photographed in September.
Biden Administration Reviews Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline
U.S. considers whether to waive or impose sanctions on builders of Russian gas pipeline
Feb 17 - WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is reviewing U.S. policy toward a pipeline designed to carry Russian natural gas to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea, under new pressure after construction on the $11 billion project resumed this month, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.
The undersea pipeline, Nord Stream 2, is more than 90% completed, with about 100 miles remaining. Construction resumed in earnest on Feb. 6, more than a year after it came to a halt in the face of opposition from the Trump administration and acts of Congress authorizing sanctions on companies and individuals involved in the project. The Biden administration hasn’t thus far imposed sanctions required by law.
The Biden administration has opened talks with Berlin on the future of the pipeline, including “threats of sanctions against companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2,” a German official said.
The administration on Tuesday faces a deadline to report a list of companies it deems in violation of the U.S. laws aimed at halting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Those companies would be potential targets for U.S. sanctions. The Biden administration could also waive the application of sanctions under a national-interest clause, placating Germany, a critical European ally, handing Russia a geopolitical victory, and crossing a bipartisan coalition in Congress. source
Biden Administration Reviews Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline
U.S. considers whether to waive or impose sanctions on builders of Russian gas pipeline
Feb 17 - WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is reviewing U.S. policy toward a pipeline designed to carry Russian natural gas to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea, under new pressure after construction on the $11 billion project resumed this month, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.
The undersea pipeline, Nord Stream 2, is more than 90% completed, with about 100 miles remaining. Construction resumed in earnest on Feb. 6, more than a year after it came to a halt in the face of opposition from the Trump administration and acts of Congress authorizing sanctions on companies and individuals involved in the project. The Biden administration hasn’t thus far imposed sanctions required by law.
The Biden administration has opened talks with Berlin on the future of the pipeline, including “threats of sanctions against companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2,” a German official said.
The administration on Tuesday faces a deadline to report a list of companies it deems in violation of the U.S. laws aimed at halting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Those companies would be potential targets for U.S. sanctions. The Biden administration could also waive the application of sanctions under a national-interest clause, placating Germany, a critical European ally, handing Russia a geopolitical victory, and crossing a bipartisan coalition in Congress. source
Workers at the construction site of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline near the town of Kingisepp, Leningrad Region, Russia, June 5, 2019.
Putin’s Corrupt Pipeline Is on Life Support
Unless the Biden administration refuses to enforce the law, the Nord Stream 2 project is going to die. The question is who gets credit for killing it.
Feb. 16 - With the detention and sentencing of Alexei Navalny and the arrest of thousands of peaceful Russian protesters, the divisive Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline has once again returned to the forefront of political discourse in Europe and the United States.
The new Biden team has struck the right rhetorical note, arguing that NS2 is “a bad deal for Europe” and promising that the U.S. will not “roll over” for Russia. Since Navalny’s arrest and sentencing, key European figures have stepped up their rhetoric as well. Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.K.’s House of Commons, has on multiple occasions advocated for NS2 to be killed. By an overwhelming 581–50 margin, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the EU to “immediately” halt work on NS2. Even the French, who up until recently backed Germany in support of the project, have changed their tune. When asked earlier this month if France was in favor of abandoning the project, Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune confirmed that it was.
At this point, the international leaders who support NS2 could very likely be counted on one hand. Among them are German chancellor Angela Merkel; Merkel’s likely successor, Armin Laschet, the leader of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU); Russian president Vladimir Putin; and the ex-Stasi intelligence officer who is now the pipeline project’s CEO, Matthias Warnig. On February 5, Laschet insisted that Germany would not abandon NS2 in the wake of Navalny’s sentencing and the mass detention of protesters in Russia. “Feel-good moralizing and domestic slogans are not foreign policy,” he said with an obvious note of disdain. continue to read
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Putin’s Corrupt Pipeline Is on Life Support
Unless the Biden administration refuses to enforce the law, the Nord Stream 2 project is going to die. The question is who gets credit for killing it.
Feb. 16 - With the detention and sentencing of Alexei Navalny and the arrest of thousands of peaceful Russian protesters, the divisive Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline has once again returned to the forefront of political discourse in Europe and the United States.
The new Biden team has struck the right rhetorical note, arguing that NS2 is “a bad deal for Europe” and promising that the U.S. will not “roll over” for Russia. Since Navalny’s arrest and sentencing, key European figures have stepped up their rhetoric as well. Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.K.’s House of Commons, has on multiple occasions advocated for NS2 to be killed. By an overwhelming 581–50 margin, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the EU to “immediately” halt work on NS2. Even the French, who up until recently backed Germany in support of the project, have changed their tune. When asked earlier this month if France was in favor of abandoning the project, Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune confirmed that it was.
At this point, the international leaders who support NS2 could very likely be counted on one hand. Among them are German chancellor Angela Merkel; Merkel’s likely successor, Armin Laschet, the leader of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU); Russian president Vladimir Putin; and the ex-Stasi intelligence officer who is now the pipeline project’s CEO, Matthias Warnig. On February 5, Laschet insisted that Germany would not abandon NS2 in the wake of Navalny’s sentencing and the mass detention of protesters in Russia. “Feel-good moralizing and domestic slogans are not foreign policy,” he said with an obvious note of disdain. continue to read
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