RT News - February 14th 2023 Late

NATO, Norway: Norwegian authorities claim Russia may sabotage their energy infrastructure, if relations with the West deteriorate. This comes just days after a prominent American journalist revealed a report that Oslo colluded with Washington, to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines. (see also 4 below). Gunnar Beck discusses.
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Ukraine, Kiev: Kiev is planning "a great event" where they plan to accuse Russia of radioactively contaminating their territories. According to Russian MOD, the EU and Norway will assist Kiev in these actions. Kiev have requested specialist equipment and "antidotes" to be shipped to Ukraine. Igor Zhdanov reports on this planned provocation.
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Indian tax authorities raid BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai - reportedly over allegations of tax evasion, according to RT sources. A BBC spokesperson said: "The income tax authorities are currently at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are fully cooperating. "We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible." Runjun Sharma reports.
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Iran/China: Beijing and Tehran sign a series of new bilateral agreements, in defiance of US pressure seeking to isolate Iran and keep China from expanding its influence. Yunfei Zhao reports.
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Israel/Palestine: Following the stabbing of an Israeli policeman, residents of a refugee camp in Jerusalem have gone on strike. Israel raided the refugee camp and one man has died. In another raid another man has been killed. Tensions are rising. Maria Finoshina reports.
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Africa, Tanzania: Russia's ambassador to Tanzania, Andrey Avetisyan, talks to RT about Russia's relationship with the African country and areas of mutual interest in development and cooperation. Russia and Tanzania already have partnership in minerals and bi-lateral exports could be further developed, with businesses eager to trade with Russia. Tanzania is also a very beautiful country for holidays and before the pandemic it attracted 80,000 Russian tourist a year. BRICS is a possibility for Tanzania and other African countries.
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Iraq, 20 years on: RT continues it's coverage of one of the deadliest and illegal wars of the century. A war based on lies and fabrication. Nikki presents the gruesome and rotten facts of this unjust, deadly war.
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QS Please see earlier post of today for important cross ref and copious amounts of info.
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Below via RT website 1) --- Hungary wants apology for ‘outrageous’ claims by US official
2) --- Kremlin warns about NATO’s role in Ukraine conflict
3) --- Snowden labels UFO craze a distraction
4) --- NATO to focus on ‘undersea cables and pipelines’
4a) --- Glenn Diesen: There's only one way to find out who destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines OP-ED
5) --- Türkiye has message for other nations
6) --- Serbians back nonexistent Kosovo ‘proposal’ – survey
7) --- US to tap oil reserves to offset Russian production cut
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14 Feb, 2023 16:33

1) --- Hungary wants apology for ‘outrageous’ claims by US official

Washington’s UN envoy has made “baseless” allegations regarding anti-Semitism, Budapest says

Hungary blasted the US over what it says are “outrageous” and “false” accusations of anti-Semitism, leveled by a senior diplomat against Budapest. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mate Paczolay added that while Washington later admitted the mistake, it has not issued a public apology.

On Tuesday, speaking to the Index news site, Paczolay slammed Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN.

During a UN event on Thursday, Thomas-Greenfield cited Hungary as an example of a place where anti-Semitism is on the rise, noting that “a Holocaust memorial was vandalized” there. In a transcript later released by Washington’s mission to the UN, this phrase was crossed out.

An explanatory note said that Thomas-Greenfield was referring to a statue in Sweden of diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Jews from the Nazis in Hungary during WWII.

“It is quite outrageous that the US ambassador made baseless and false claims about Hungary in front of the… public,” the spokesman said, adding that the Hungarian delegation was not given an opportunity to speak, and was able to complain only after the event had ended.

Paczolay noted that “the American side admitted behind closed doors that it made a mistake.” However, it never issued “a clarifying or an apologetic statement,” which he said is the “minimum expectation in diplomacy” in this type of situation.

If the mistake was indeed unintentional and resulted from a “lack of preparation,” then it is “incomprehensible why the representation does not issue a statement in order to resolve the situation,” he said.

Earlier this month, Hungarian-US relations were marred by another diplomatic spat. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called out David Pressman, Washington’s ambassador to Budapest, over alleged “interference” in the nation’s internal affairs.

Pressman had commented that local decision-makers “continue to push policies endorsed by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” referring in particular to Hungary’s opposition to the Western sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine conflict.
https://www.rt.com/news/571469-hungary-us-false-antisemitism/
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14 Feb, 2023 15:00

2) --- Kremlin warns about NATO’s role in Ukraine conflict

The bloc displays its hostility to Moscow on a daily basis, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said

NATO’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict is becoming more obvious by the day, despite claims to the contrary, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

“NATO is an organization that is hostile to us,” Peskov told reporters. “They are confirming this hostility every day and are going out of their way to make their involvement in the conflict around Ukraine a lot clearer.”

Peskov said the military bloc’s activities demand “certain precautionary measures” from Moscow. He noted that the US-led alliance has shared intelligence with Ukraine, and that “all of NATO’s military infrastructure is working against Russia.”

Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine nearly a year ago, citing the need to protect the people of Donbass and Kiev’s failure to implement the 2014-2015 Minsk agreements.

NATO has since supplied Kiev with heavy weapons, including multiple rocket launchers, anti-tank weapons, armored vehicles, and artillery. The bloc has also trained Ukrainian troops. Despite this, NATO Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg claimed at a press conference on Monday that the alliance was not a “party to the conflict.”

However, Stoltenberg noted that since 2014, NATO has “implemented the biggest reinforcements of collective defense in a generation,” deploying additional forces close to Russia’s borders. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it considers the military sites on the bloc’s eastern flank as a threat.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stated at a parliamentary debate last month that the EU was “fighting a war against Russia.” She later claimed she had made a mistake, but also argued that her words had been misconstrued.

Kiev’s backers are meeting in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss further support. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters upon arrival that Western countries were aiming to “help Ukraine hold and advance during the spring counter-offensive.” Several states, including the US, Britain, and Germany, earlier pledged to supply Kiev with modern main battle tanks.

Moscow has warned that more foreign weapons will further escalate the conflict, vowing that tanks and other Western-supplied arms would be treated as legitimate targets for Russian troops.
https://www.rt.com/russia/571468-kremlin-nato-hostile-organization/
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14 Feb, 2023 00:37

3) --- Snowden labels UFO craze a distraction

Talk of aliens is intended to misdirect from real scandals, the NSA whistleblower says

The media frenzy over “spy balloons” and unidentified flying objects over North America is sadly not about first contact with extraterrestrials, but an engineered panic for political misdirection, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden said on Monday.

“It’s not aliens. I wish it were aliens. But it’s not aliens. It’s just the ol’ engineered panic, an attractive nuisance ensuring [national security] reporters get assigned to investigate balloon bulls**t rather than budgets or bombings” such as the Nord Stream, Snowden tweeted.

Award-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a story last week describing how the US and Norway blew up the pipelines transporting Russian natural gas to Germany last September. The US government denounced it as false.

Over the next several days, the US military began shooting down “objects” in the sky over North America. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that the US government still doesn’t know who owns the three objects brought down over the weekend. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said there was “no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity,” however.

Kirby had announced the downing of a “high-altitude object” off the coast of Alaska on Friday. US fighter jets brought down an “unidentified, unmanned object” over the Yukon in northwest Canada on Saturday. The third object was shot down on Sunday afternoon over Lake Huron as it approached Michigan.

“While authorities don’t yet know what the objects are, they are not a threat,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters on Monday. “They do not present a military threat to anyone on the ground. They do however present a risk to civil aviation and potentially an intelligence collection threat. And we’ll get to the bottom of it,” he added.

Austin also said the three objects were different from the Chinese ‘spy balloon’ the US shot down over South Carolina last week. The aerostat, which Beijing described as a weather balloon blown off-course by the winds, had passed over most of the continental US before it was destroyed by a F-22 fighter jet.

The Pentagon’s reluctance to describe the ‘objects’ or show any debris that may have been recovered has fueled speculation about their potential extraterrestrial origin. Space magnate Elon Musk joked about “friends of mine” stopping by. Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers have expressed frustration at the lack of official explanations by the White House.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, demanded the Pentagon and the president “tell us what they know – and what they don’t – immediately.”

“What in the world is going on?” wondered fellow Kentuckian and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor. “The administration has still not been able to divulge any meaningful information about what was shot down,” he said, asking if the radar sensitivity may have been turned up after the Chinese balloon incident.
https://www.rt.com/news/571437-snowden-aliens-nord-stream/
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13 Feb, 2023 22:13

4) --- NATO to focus on ‘undersea cables and pipelines’

Stoltenberg vows to “prevent and counter threats” after Nord Stream expose blames US and Norway

NATO will set up a new coordinating body to address threats to undersea infrastructure, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday. His announcement comes just days after legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh claimed the US and Norway were behind the September explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea.

“Protection of critical undersea infrastructure will also be high on our agenda,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels, following the meeting of NATO defense ministers. The US-led bloc “has been working on this for many years,” Stoltenberg added, “and we are now taking it to the next level.”

A new “coordination cell” will be established at NATO Headquarters to “map our vulnerabilities, and engage with industry,” which will “support our efforts to prevent and counter threats to critical infrastructure, including undersea cables and pipelines,” according to Stoltenberg. He said further measures will be decided at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania in July.

Stoltenberg, who was the Norwegian prime minister before taking over NATO leadership in 2014, did not address Hersh’s story from last Wednesday. Neither did any of the reporters NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu called on.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist had accused the US of ordering the destruction of the pipelines running from Russia to Germany and Norway of helping to carry out the bombing.

The White House denounced it as “utterly false and complete fiction.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed to the words of US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland to say that Americans were “basically admitting” the pipeline blasts were their doing. Meanwhile, Beijing said that Washington owed the world an explanation.

“If Hersh is telling the truth, what he revealed is clearly unacceptable and must be answered for,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday.

As Hersh noted, both Nuland and US President Joe Biden had made very specific threats against Nord Stream 2 prior to the escalation of hostilities in Ukraine last year. After the blasts, US officials blamed Russia but said the situation presented an “opportunity” for Europe to cut ties with Moscow.
https://www.rt.com/news/571434-nato-undersea-cables-pipelines/
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9 Feb, 2023 18:33

4a) --- Glenn Diesen: There's only one way to find out who destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines OP-ED

Veteran reporter’s latest exposé appears to back up earlier assertions that Washington was behind the blasts

By Glenn Diesen, Professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway and an editor at the Russia in Global Affairs journal.

Last September, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany was blown up, followed by its older-sibling line, Nord Stream 1. This was an attack on European infrastructure, on its energy security, and on the environment, too, as large amounts of natural gas leaked into the Baltic Sea.

The immediate argument from the Western political-media class was that Moscow had likely attacked its own pipelines despite Nord Stream being an important source of revenue and influence. Instead of presenting evidence or any coherent motivation, they claimed it was part of the mythical “Russian playbook.”

Across the West it was deemed to be conspiracy-theory peddling, and Russian propaganda, to even suggest the US would benefit from the situation. In an ultimate display of bloc discipline, or of Stockholm syndrome, the Americans were able to celebrate the destruction of the pipeline while the Western Europeans fervently denounced any allegation against their ally as disinformation. The incident has seemingly gone down the memory hole as the political-media class have no interest in an open investigation and public awareness has been diluted.

Seymour Hersh, the investigative journalist who exposed the 1968 US My Lai massacre coverup in Vietnam and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq circa 2004, has now released a report blaming the US for the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines. Will the report result in according the attack the serious debate and investigation it deserves, or will they attempt to move along by denouncing Hersh as an old, senile “Putinist?”

US interest in destroying Nord Stream 2
America’s historical fears about economic integration between Germany and Russia were realized with the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which sent energy directly between the two European giants. The US was remarkably open about its desire and intention to disrupt the German-Russian pipeline project. Washington resisted the construction of Nord Stream 2 for years, condemned Germany for its participation, and even sanctioned European companies which participated in the project.

The RAND Corporation published a report in 2019, ordered by the US Army, on how to extend and weaken Russia. Energy cooperation between Berlin and Moscow was identified as a key source of Russian economic revenue and influence in Europe, and the report advocated that “A first step would involve stopping Nord Stream 2.” In July 2020, then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned: "We will do everything we can to make sure that that pipeline doesn’t threaten Europe.” https://www.rferl.org/a/pompeo-u-s-will-do-everything-to-stop-nord-stream-2/30757543.html

The Nord Stream pipeline was frequently threatened as the conflict in Ukraine intensified. US Senator Tom Cotton stated in May 2021 that “there is still time to stop it… Kill Nord Stream 2 now, and let it rust beneath the waves of the Baltic”. https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/speeches/kill-russias-nord-stream-2-let-it-rust-in-the-baltic On 14 January 2022, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan asserted: “We have made clear to the Russians that pipeline is at risk if they move further into Ukraine.” https://archive.org/details/CNNW_20220117_160000_At_This_Hour_With_Kate_Bolduan On 3 February, Senator Ted Cruz called for the end of Nord Stream: “This pipeline must be stopped and the only way to prevent its completion is to use all the tools available to do that.” https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-cruz-on-the-crisis-in-ukraine-president-biden-and-the-democrats-have-imperiled-ukraine-and-put-europe-on-the-brink-of-war

On 7 February 2022, President Biden stood next to German Chancellor Scholz as he warned that if Russia invades Ukraine then “there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.” Asked by a journalist how he would destroy something under German control, Biden responded: “I promise you, we will be able to do that”. Undersecretary of State for Policy, Victoria Nuland, also repeated the threat: “I want to be very clear: if Russia invades Ukraine one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.”

On 26 September 2022 the threat seemingly materialized as the German-Russian Nord Stream pipelines were destroyed in an underwater explosion. The next day, on 27 September 2022, leaders from Poland, Norway, and Denmark attended a ceremony in Poland to mark the opening of the new Norway-Poland Baltic Pipe that would replace the dependence on Nord Stream.

After the Nord Stream attack, former Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski tweeted “Thank you, USA,” accompanied by a picture of the destroyed pipeline. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken then, in no uncertain terms, argued that the destruction of Nord Stream presents “a tremendous opportunity. It’s a tremendous opportunity to once and for all remove the dependence on Russian energy.” Blinken also offered to assist Western Europe by replacing Russian gas with much more expensive American fuel. Recently, Nuland also weighed in as she argued “I am, and I think the Administration is, very gratified to know that Nord Stream 2 is now, as you like to say, a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea.” https://www.newsweek.com/sergei-lavrov-us-nord-stream-pipeline-attack-1778499

Investigating the attack
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The US has rejected any involvement in the destruction of Nord Stream, and instead pointed the finger toward Moscow as the likely culprit. Russia has not received access to the Swedish investigation, and then there is the strange incident of Stockholm refusing even to share its findings with Germany and Denmark as the results are “too sensitive.” https://nord.news/2022/10/14/sweden-explains-the-rejection-of-the-joint-nord-stream-probe/

The media has also been very diligent in defending Washington’s narrative. Case in point, when professor Jeffrey Sachs accused the US of sabotaging the pipeline and citing the radar evidence, he was swiftly pulled off air. https://nypost.com/2022/10/04/jeffrey-sachs-yanked-off-air-after-accusing-us-of-sabotaging-nord-stream/

This week, Seymour Hersh published an article titled “How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline.” Hersh cites a source within US intelligence, who offered very specific details about the decision-making and the operation of destroying the pipeline. Allegedly, the US was assisted by Norway in attacking the pipeline. The report by Hersh has renewed Moscow’s calls for openness and its insistence that the culprits must be punished. https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-02-09/russia-calls-for-international-probe-into-nord-stream-blasts-after-blogger-report

The allegations in Hersh’s report are based on a single source and are not hard evidence, although the report certainly warrants a debate and an investigation.

One way or other, we deserve to know who was responsible.

"...The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.... "
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14 Feb, 2023 18:07

5) --- Türkiye has message for other nations

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has thanked the countries that provided assistance after two terrible earthquakes

The assistance Türkiye has received from the global community following devastating earthquakes once again proves how important international solidarity is, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said. He addressed the participants of the World Government Summit in a video message on Tuesday.

The president stressed his country “will not forget the helping hand extended in difficult times,” as he thanked all of those who assisted in relief efforts after Türkiye was rocked by the disaster last week.

“Some states sent rescuers to Türkiye, some showed solidarity by initiating campaigns to collect aid. Some states have issued statements of support for Ankara,” noted Erdogan.

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the province of Gaziantep in southeastern Türkiye on the morning of February 6, followed hours later by a magnitude 7.6 quake in nearby Kahramanmaras Province. The earthquakes wrought unbelievable destruction across nine Turkish provinces and in neighboring northern Syria. Relief efforts are still ongoing, with rescuers from around the globe flying in to help.

Erdogan said that a total of 13.5 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the earthquakes, which scientists have compared to the explosion of 500 atomic bombs. According to the president, that makes them not only one of the largest natural disasters ever in the country, but also in all of recorded history.

Turkish officials have yet to reach a final estimate of how many people lost their lives in the disaster, but the latest figures suggest that over 33,000 people were killed.

However, Erdogan stated that a large number of the 81,000 people who were injured in the catastrophe have already been discharged from hospitals. He also said that some 8,000 people have been rescued from under collapsed buildings.

Meanwhile, the economic toll of the earthquakes has been estimated at a staggering $84 billion in Türkiye alone – over a tenth of the country’s GDP, according to a business group cited by Bloomberg.
https://www.rt.com/news/571479-turkey-erdogan-thanks-support/
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14 Feb, 2023 18:04

6) --- Serbians back nonexistent Kosovo ‘proposal’ – survey

A poll shows that most favor a French-German plan – but oppose its key demands

A new poll published on Tuesday showed that 57% of Serbians favor accepting a proposal floated by Paris and Berlin. The only catch is that respondents said that the proposal can’t involve recognizing the breakaway province of Kosovo as independent or giving it a seat in the UN – which it does.

While the misleading topline made headlines across the pro-Western press in Belgrade, the rest of the poll showed no change in Serbia’s position on the breakaway province. Asked if they would support the proposal if it included de facto recognition and the UN seat – as it does – 80% said no and only 9% were in favor.

When asked if they knew what was in the proposal, only 21% said yes, while 61% of respondents said no. The pollster, Faktor Plus, based its findings on a survey of 1,100 respondents.

NATO took control of Kosovo in 1999, after months of bombing Serbia on behalf of an ethnic Albanian insurgency. The provisional government in Pristina declared independence in 2008, with Western support. Backed by Russia and China, Belgrade has so far managed to resist pressure to recognize the province.

The EU has openly demanded recognition of Kosovo as a prerequisite for further negotiations on Serbia joining the bloc, however, along with “harmonization” of Belgrade’s foreign policy with that of Brussels, in particular when it comes to sanctioning Russia.

French and German diplomats presented President Aleksandar Vucic last month with a plan to “normalize relations” with Pristina. When Vucic brought it up in the parliament, the chamber erupted into fisticuffs amid cries of “treason” and “capitulation.” Vucic vowed to stay true to the Serbian constitution, which includes Kosovo in the preamble.

Serbia is well aware of its national interests, which are “not subject to negotiation,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday, adding that Moscow was keenly aware of the pressure the West was putting on Belgrade.

Russia’s position on Kosovo was “principled and unchanged,” Moscow’s ambassador in Belgrade tweeted on Monday, denouncing “a series of twisted representations of my words by some experts and media outlets” suggesting otherwise. The only just and durable solution would be based on the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 – which guarantees Serbia’s sovereignty over Kosovo – and be in line with international law and Belgrade’s legitimate interests, said Ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko.
https://www.rt.com/news/571480-serbia-poll-kosovo-proposal/
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14 Feb, 2023 16:38

7) --- US to tap oil reserves to offset Russian production cut

The country’s emergency stockpile is currently at its lowest level since 1983

The administration of US President Joe Biden said on Monday that it will go ahead with a scheduled sale of 26 million barrels of crude oil from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The move comes on the heels of Russia’s announcement that it will curtail output by half a million barrels per day next month.

The release has been mandated by Congress and is in line with budget directives enacted in 2015 for the current fiscal year, a spokesperson for the US Department of Energy said. Last year, the Biden administration sold a record 180 million barrels of crude from the SPR in an effort to tame rising fuel prices.

However, the Department of Energy had previously been considering canceling the scheduled sale of the 26 million barrels this fiscal year in order to refill the emergency reserve after last year’s record draw saw the SPR reduced to just 371 million barrels, the lowest level since 1983. The announced sale will bring reserves down to about 345 million barrels.

“Biden is front-loading SPR barrels to avoid a summer gasoline price spike,” Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group, said. He added that “there are growing concerns among the Biden administration that gas prices are headed back to $4 a gallon and the president is fearful of the political heat he will have to take.”

The latest release comes after Russia unveiled plans to curb oil production by 500,000 barrels a day, or about 5%, next month in retaliation for Western sanctions. Many analysts see the move by the US authorities as a measure to offset Moscow’s output cut.

The US was seeking to repurchase oil for the emergency reserve once the price stabilized at about $70 per barrel. However, WTI crude prices surged to nearly $80 per barrel after Russia’s announcement.

A number of economists also believe that the EU has downplayed the importance of Russia’s production cut, which comes at a time of rapid economic recovery and growing energy demand in China.
https://www.rt.com/business/571474-us-strategic-oil-reserve-release/
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