COViD, Biden & Putin | Dec. 31, 2021

 Joe Biden, American voters on different pages when it comes to COVID

​New Rasmussen poll: voters increasingly fear worst of pandemic isn’t over but they’re ready to move on from restrictions any way

Dec. 31 - As the pandemic enters its third year in the midst of another soaring outbreak, the American people and their president are on different pages of this non-fiction horror story.

Joe Biden prematurely declared the virus defeated in July, but Americans are increasingly convinced the worst of a pandemic that has already killed 800,000 citizens lies ahead.

Biden and his COVID sidekick, Dr. Anthony Fauci, also are preaching to cancel indoor New Year’s parties and to mask up as the Omicron variant speeds across the country on the same path as its Delta variant predecessor a few months back.

But the American people are signaling they want to move on from such restrictions, returning to life as normal while cognizant of the risks.

In other words, they’re tired of the big government lockdowns and flip-flopping advice and increasingly trust themselves to navigate the peril that lies ahead.

Those are the messages inherent in the latest polling from Scott Rasmussen unveiled this week, which found just 27% of voters now believe that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. The December figure is a stunning 29-point decline from Americans' peak optimism in May, Rasmussen said.

Nearly half of America – 46% to be exact -- now believes COVID-19’s worst wrath is yet to come...     more

'We're Prepared': Biden Speaks With Governors About Covid Response Efforts
Dec 28, 2021

Biden discuss Ukraine tensions with Russian President Vladimir Putin​
Dec 31, 2021

Background Press Call by a Senior Administration Official on President Biden’s Call with President Putin of the Russian Federation

DECEMBER 30, 2021•PRESS BRIEFINGSVia Teleconference

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Good evening, everyone.  And thanks for joining us.  A reminder that this call will be on background, attributed to a “senior administration official,” and the contents are going to be embargoed until the conclusion of the call.

We will have an official readout of the call out shortly, attributed to Jen Psaki.  But for now, we’ll go ahead and begin the background portion of our readout.

Our speaker today is going to be [senior administration official]. 
[Senior administration official], over to you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thanks very much.  And thanks, everybody. 

So while this call took place at the government of Russia’s request, it’s consistent with our view that head of state engagements, particularly between these two countries, and particularly going into the intensive period of diplomacy that is to come, not next week but the week after, is appropriate and the best way of moving forward on the very serious situation that we face.

The tone of the conversation between the two presidents was serious and substantive.  They each framed their positions as they’ve done in previous calls and also as they have done publicly.

President Biden laid out two paths, two aspects of the U.S. approach that will really depend on Russia’s actions in the period ahead.  One is a path of diplomacy leading toward a de-escalation of the situation, and the other is a path that’s more focused on deterrence, including serious costs and consequences should Russia choose to proceed with a further invasion of Ukraine. 

And those costs include economic costs, include adjustments and augmentations of NATO force posture in Allied countries, and include additional assistance to Ukraine to enable it to further defend itself and its territory, as we’ve laid out previously.

The leaders agreed to the sequence of Strategic Stability Dialogue starting on the 9th and 10th in Geneva, a NATO-Russia Council conversation on the 12th, and an OSCE meeting on the 13th.  They both discussed the importance of pragmatic, results-oriented diplomacy.  And I think President Biden very much saw this call as seeking to set the conditions for that.

President Biden was very clear that the United States will be operating on the principle of “nothing about you without you”: no conversations about issues that are of ultimate concern to our partners and allies without the full consultation and participation of our partners and allies — which President Putin said that he understood.

Both leaders acknowledged that there were likely to be areas where we could make meaningful progress as well as areas where agreements may be impossible, and that the upcoming talks would determine more precisely the contours of each of those categories.  That’s what diplomacy is.  That’s what negotiations are for...     more

3 Key Takeaways From Joe Biden's Phone Call With Vladimir Putin

​Dec. 30 -...Russia has in recent weeks asked NATO to refuse membership to Ukraine and other Eastern European countries that were previously part of the Soviet Union. The country has also instructed the U.S. and allied countries to remove or reduce their military support for Ukraine.

​On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone. After the call, Zelensky tweeted that the U.S. said it will provide "full" support against "Russian aggression"...

Related Articles:

• Ukraine Lauds 'Full' U.S. Support Ahead of Joe Biden-Vladimir Putin Call
• Biden, Putin to Speak Thursday After Russian Ups Ukraine, NATO Demands
• Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Fully Filled, Putin Says as Russia Awaits Approval

President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin to speak today amid tensions over Ukraine
Dec 31, 2021

Biden, Putin to talk Thursday amid heightened tensions over Ukraine

It's the leaders' second call this month as Russia menaces its neighbor.

Dec. 30 - President Joe Biden will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday -- their second conversation this month amid heightened fears of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.


The call, which the Biden administration said comes at Putin's request, is the latest effort to defuse those tensions diplomatically.


But tens of thousands of Russian troops remain near Ukraine's borders, and bellicose rhetoric from Russian officials and state propaganda have Western officials on edge still.


The U.S. and European allies have threatened unprecedented economic penalties for Moscow if it attacks Ukraine, nearly eight years after its forces seized the Crimean Peninsula and sparked a war in Ukraine's eastern provinces known as Donbas.


Sanctions and other penalties have not brought that conflict to an end, with approximately 14,000 people killed and Russian-led separatists still fighting Ukrainian forces. U.S. officials say it's unclear if Putin has decided to attack again in an all-out invasion, but Biden has already made clear U.S. forces will not come to Kyiv's aid on the battlefield.


Instead, the Biden administration is hoping deterrence and diplomacy will stop Putin. A senior administration official said they "cannot speak to why the Russian side has requested the call," but added both leaders believe there is "genuine value in direct leader to leader engagement."


"I think we are at a moment of crisis and have been for some weeks now given the Russian build-up and that it will take a high level of engagement to address this and to try to find a path of de-escalation," the official told reporters Wednesday...     more

Russian President Putin | Dec. 24, 2021

 DECEMBER 23, 2021

​Russian President Putin Holds Year-End News Conference
Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual year-end news conference in Moscow, which lasted just under four hours. During this almost 90-minute portion, he answered a wide range of questions on the economy, relations with China and Belarus, the Olympics, his political future, and the situation in Ukraine. On whether he would guarantee no military actions against Ukraine, he inferred it was the U.S. and NATO being the aggressors against Russia. He went on to say Russia is not a threat to anyone, and if "you want guarantees from me, you should come up with guarantees, right now, immediately, and not to keep talking about this for decades.

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds annual press conference |
​Latest World English News
​ Dec 23, 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding an annual press conference. The focus primarily will be on the Russia-Ukraine border conflict and crackdown against political opponents and media.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has wound up his annual end-of-year press conference, having taken questions on the Kremlin’s policy positions at home and abroad, amid strained relations with the West, high rates of Covid-19 deaths and pressure on a range of domestic political issues.
NATO, China, anti-vaxxers: Putin wraps up 2021 with a major press-conference

Russian leader set out his opinion on everything from conflict with NATO to the anti-vaxx movement.

Date published on Dec. 24, 2021

Talks with NATO

Last week, Moscow issued a series of proposals to both Washington and NATO as part of a bid to seek assurances that the US-led military bloc will not expand closer to its borders. The demands include written guarantees that the ambitions of Ukrainian politicians to join will not be realized, with the Kremlin having long described the prospect of Western troops and hardware being deployed to the former Soviet Republic as a red line.

Just a day before, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that talks would soon take place between Russian officials and American diplomats, as early as January next year. However, Putin insisted, meetings alone would not be seen as enough. “We don’t care about negotiations, we want results,” the President blasted. “Not an inch to the East they told us in the 1990s, and look what happened – they cheated us, vehemently and blatantly.”

“Now they’re saying that they will have Ukraine as well. This means they will deploy their weapons there, even if it's not officially part of NATO,” he went on. According to the Russian leader, it is now up to the US-led bloc to come up with guarantees “immediately,” instead of continuously talking about it “for decades.”     more

Related Articles:
NATO ‘cheated’ Russia – Putin
​Russian President Vladimir Putin claims NATO lied to Moscow when it pledged not to expand eastwards.

China will end US dominance – Putin
Beijing is on the cusp of overtaking America as the powerhouse of global trade, the Russian president has argued.

Dec. 24 - Within the next three decades, China will surpass the US in every aspect of its economy, Vladimir Putin said, predicting that America will lose its position of dominance in finance and trade.

​Speaking to journalists at his annual end-of-year press conference on Thursday, Putin pointed out that “today, China’s economy is already larger than America’s in terms of purchasing power parity.” According to him, “by 2035-2050, it will have surpassed it and China will become the leading economy in the world according to all metrics.”

However, the Russian president continued, the West is working to undermine the world’s most populous nation and strangle its growth. The US-led boycott of the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing purportedly over human rights abuses is an attempt to make sure China “cannot raise its head” above its competitors, he added.

Putin blasted the decision as “unacceptable and erroneous,” and an “attempt to restrain the development of the People’s Republic of China.” Washington announced the decision over concerns for the safety of tennis player Peng Shuai, who disappeared from public for several weeks after accusing former vice premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. The Women’s Tennis Association has suspended all tournaments in the East Asian nation in response.

Earlier this month, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks via video link amid escalating tensions between the two nations and the West. In the wake of the discussions, the Kremlin revealed that the pair had agreed to develop a shared financial system to reduce reliance on US-dominated platforms. The move appears to be a response to a series of warnings that Western nations could push to disconnect Russia from the Brussels-based SWIFT financial system as a form of sanction.

During the press conference on Thursday, Putin said China is his country’s number-one partner, adding that “we have very trusting relations and it helps us build good business ties as well.”
“We are cooperating in the field of security. The Chinese Army is equipped to a significant extent with the world’s most advanced weapons systems. We are even developing certain high-tech weapons together,” the Russian leader added.

Related Articles:
Kremlin reveals new independent Russian-Chinese financial systems

​

美雇佣兵欲在乌使用化武？普京：俄无处可退 将强硬回击 20211222 |
《今日关注》CCTV中文国际
 Dec 23, 2021 

Why Biden Wants Taiwan/拜登支持台灣的理由

US Senator thanks Taiwan for voting against pork import ban

US Senator from Iowa Chuck Grassley has thanked Taiwanese voters for rejecting a proposal to reinstate restrictions on pork imports that would have affected US pork. 

In January, Taiwan’s ruling party lifted a ban on importing pork treated with the leanness-enhancing additive ractopamine, much of which is produced in the US. In a referendum last Saturday, voters were asked whether the government should reinstate the ban. The measure failed to pass. 

Had the measure passed, it would have dealt a blow to the US-Taiwan trade relationship. 

​Grassley Tweeted “Taiwanese people rejected [a] referendum that [would] [have] overturned [President] Tsai’s move [to] allow imports of quality US pork into Taiwan. [Thank you to the] Taiwanese [government] & [citizens] for your friendship. I look [forward] to expanded trade.”
Meanwhile, US Iowa Representative Ashley Hinson also Tweeted that Taiwan is a “partner in democracy & continues to be a strong export market for Iowa pork producers.”

Related Articles:
Taiwan: A capable partner that deserves a closer relationship with emerging Europe

​

Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the senior United States senator from Iowa, having held the seat since 1981. He is in his seventh Senate term, having first been elected in 1980.
A member of the Republican Party, Grassley served eight terms in the Iowa House of Representatives (1959–1975) and three terms in the United States House of Representatives (1975–1981). He has served three stints as Senate Finance Committee chairman during periods of Republican Senate majority.[1][2] When Orrin Hatch's Senate term ended on January 3, 2019 following his retirement, Grassley became the most senior Republican in the Senate, and he served as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate from 2019 to 2021.[3][4]
During his four decades in the Senate, Grassley has chaired the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Narcotics Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Senate Aging Committee.


查爾斯·歐內斯特·「查克」·葛雷斯利（英語：Charles Ernest "Chuck" Grassley；1933年9月17日－），是一位美國共和黨政治人物，自1981年擔任艾奧瓦州美國參議院議員，前任美國參議院臨時議長。在此以前，他曾於1975年到1981年出任艾奧瓦州美國眾議院議員[1]，以及於1959年到1974年出任艾奥瓦州众议院議員[2]。2020年11月17日，葛雷斯利的COVID-19病毒檢測呈陽性[3]。

---

US and Japanese forces sail in formation in the Philippine Sea during multinational military exercises in 2018. 

US and Japan draw up joint military plan in case of Taiwan emergency – report

US would set up bases from a Japanese island to Taiwan and deploy troops, with Japan providing logistical support, Kyodo reports

Date published on Dec. 24, 2021

Japanese and US armed forces have drawn up a draft plan for a joint operation for a possible Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency has reported, amid increased tensions between the island and China.

​Under the plan, the US marine corps would set up temporary bases on the Nansei island chain stretching from Kyushu – one of the four main islands of Japan – to Taiwan at the initial stage of a Taiwan emergency and would deploy troops, Kyodo said on Thursday, citing unnamed Japanese government sources.

Japanese armed forces would provide logistical support in such areas as ammunition and fuel supplies, it said.

​Japan, a former colonial ruler of Taiwan, and the US would likely reach an agreement to start formulating an official plan at a “2+2” meeting of foreign and defence ministers early next year, the news agency said.

Japanese defence ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own “sacred” territory and in the past two years has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to assert its sovereignty claims, fuelling anger in Taipei and deep concern in Washington.

Taiwan’s government says it wants peace, but will defend itself if needed.

In October, Japan’s government signalled a more assertive position on China’s aggressive posture towards self-ruled Taiwan, suggesting it would consider options and prepare for “various scenarios”, while reaffirming close US ties.

Earlier this month, former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said Japan and the US could not stand by if China attacked Taiwan.

US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, have long said that given the tens of thousands of troops the US has in Japan and its proximity to Taiwan, Japan would likely have to play an important role in any Taiwan emergency.

Japan is host to major US military bases, including on the southern island of Okinawa, a short flight from Taiwan, which would be crucial for any US support during a Chinese attack.

The US, like most countries in the world, recognises China over Taiwan, in line with Beijing’s “one China” policy. But Washington is the island’s biggest arms supplier and ally and is obliged by law to help it defend itself.

As we approach the end of the year in Taiwan, we have a small favour to ask. We’d like to thank you for putting your trust in our journalism this year - and invite you to join the million-plus people in 180 countries who have recently taken the step to support us financially, keeping us open to all, and fiercely independent.

In 2021, this support sustained investigative work into offshore wealth, spyware, sexual harassment, labour abuse, environmental plunder, crony coronavirus contracts, and Big Tech.

The new year, like all new years, will hopefully herald a fresh sense of cautious optimism, and there is certainly much for us to focus on in 2022 - a volley of elections, myriad economic challenges, the next round in the struggle against the pandemic and a World Cup.

With no shareholders or billionaire owner, we can set our own agenda and provide trustworthy journalism that’s free from commercial and political influence, offering a counterweight to the spread of misinformation. When it’s never mattered more, we can investigate and challenge without fear or favour.     more

Related Articles:
Antony Blinken warns China to stop ‘aggressive actions’ in Asia-Pacific

In China’s new age of imperialism, Xi Jinping gives thumbs down to democracy
Simon Tisdall

John Kirby | Dec. 18, 2021

 1 - White House News in Chinese (weebly.com)

DECEMBER 17, 2021

Defense Department Briefing
Defense Department Spokesman John Kirby briefs reporters at the Pentagon.

Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby Holds a Press Briefing

DEC. 17, 2021

​Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby

PRESS SECRETARY JOHN F. KIRBY: Good afternoon, everybody. Thanks for your patience in starting a little bit late on a Friday afternoon. I do have a few things to start out with.

So I think you saw this morning that Secretary Austin spoke during a Hall of Heroes induction ceremony that was conducted over at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. That ceremony honored the recent Medal of Honor recipients, Army Master Sergeant Earl Plumlee, Army Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe and Army Sergeant First Class Christopher Celiz. We echo, of course, President Biden in saying that we are grateful for all that these three soldiers have done, and we certainly honor their courage and -- and bravery under exceptional circumstances.

As I mentioned previously, the Defense Policy Board met this week for the first time since completing -- since we've completed Secretary Austin's zero-based review process. That board, which is chaired by Madeleine Albright, received classified briefings on China military modernization, the National Defense Strategy priorities and strategic approach, integrated deterrence, the Nuclear Posture Review and the Missile Defense Review. Secretary Austin joined the meeting yesterday to receive an out-brief from the board on their findings after reviewing a draft version of the still-classified 2021 National Defense Strategy. The secretary thanked the members for their continued dedication to the nation and their sound advice and counsel as the department continues to refine the NDS.

As you know, the Defense Policy Board is chartered to provide independent advice and recommendations on matters concerning defense policy in response to specific tasks from the secretary, the deputy secretary or the undersecretary of defense for policy. A full readout will be posted on defense.gov later today.

​Also on the Secretary's plate today -- this morning he spoke by phone with German Federal Minister of Defense Christine Lambrecht this morning to congratulate her on her new appointment to the role. The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strong U.S.-German defense cooperation, both bilaterally and of course within the NATO alliance.

They discussed their commitment to work together on a full range of challenges, including addressing Russia's destabilizing actions in Eastern Europe, ensuring NATO alliance unity, maintaining positive trajectory on defense investments, and of course increasing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. A -- a full readout of that should be posted, if not now, certainly very soon on our website.

I'm sure that some of you have also been tracking some recent confirmation hearings. We were very pleased to see the confirmations of John Sherman, the Chief -- new Chief Information Officer, and Nickolas Guertin, the new Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, and of course Admiral Chris Grady, the new Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We welcome them all to their new roles, welcome some of them back into public service, and the Secretary's looking forward to -- to working closely with all three of them.

As I think you know, December 18th is National Wreaths Across America Day. It will kick off tomorrow at 8 am at Arlington National Cemetery, as wreaths will be placed at each marker by volunteers. Chairman Milley plans to attend that ceremony. The event has grown over the past 30 years to include now nearly 3,000 participating locations all across the country. And of course if anyone would like to volunteer, you can go to their website at wreathsacrossamerica.org.

And then lastly, later today, the -- this afternoon, U.S. Air Forces Central will release their Airpower Summary Reports covering February 2020 through November 2021. These reports will provide an overview of air operations, to include strikes, conducted in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan under Combined Forces Air Component Commander authorities.

As you know, the public release of airstrikes in Afghanistan was paused in March of 2020 due to sensitivity surrounding the implementation of the U.S.-Taliban agreement. It is important to remember that during this time, DOD continued to -- I'm sorry -- continued to collect and analyze the data and provided it to Inspectors General for inclusions in -- in their regular reports to Congress.

Seeking to remain as transparent as possible, the Secretary directed that this data again be made publicly releasable. These reports will be available, as I said, later today on U.S. Air Forces Central's website at afcent.mil. And again, they'll go back to February 2020 and then they'll continue going forward...     more

Russia proposes US bilateral talks on security guarantees - official

Involving other countries would make talks meaningless, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Ryabkov said

Dec. 18 - MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Moscow offers Washington to negotiate security guarantees exclusively on a bilateral basis. Involving other countries would make them meaningless, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Ryabkov told TASS.

"We propose negotiations on a bilateral basis with the United States. If we involve other countries, we will simply drown it all in debate and verbiage," the diplomat said.

According to Ryabkov, there has never been a situation similar to relations with the United States. "I hope that the Americans do not underestimate how much everything has changed - and not for the better. So far, unfortunately, there are no signs that they are ready to give up their own patterns," the diplomat said.

​On Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, commenting on the Russian Foreign Ministry publishing draft treaties between Russia and the United States with NATO on security guarantees said that the United States would not conduct consultations on security in Europe in the absence of partners from the European Union.   
​

White House has seen talks proposals from Russia, in contact with European allies
​
Dec. 17 - White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the United States has seen proposals from Russia to start talks that could help defuse the crisis over Ukraine and is speaking with its European allies and partners.

Russia said on Thursday it was ready to send a government negotiator "at any moment" to start talks with the United States on the security guarantees it is seeking.

"There will be no talks on European security without our European allies and partners," Psaki told reporters.

"We will not compromise the key principles on which European security is built, including that all countries have the right to decide their own future and foreign policy, free from outside interference," she added.
Ukraine and the United States say Russia has moved more than 90,000 troops within reach of the Ukrainian border and may be poised to invade, which Moscow denies.

Russia says it feels threatened by growing ties between NATO and Ukraine, which wants to join the alliance, and the possibility of NATO missiles being deployed against it on Ukrainian soil.

Psaki said the United States has engaged with Russia for decades and does not see why the United States cannot do that going forward to reduce instability, but reiterated that it will be done in partnership with European allies.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, who held a two-hour video call on Dec. 7, could speak again before New Year, though nothing firm had been agreed.