30 Sept 2022 - Secretary Antony J. Blinken And Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly At a Joint Press Availability
REMARKS
ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ROOM
WASHINGTON, D.C
FOREIGN MINISTER JOLY: To add to that, obviously we support NATO’s and the EU’s declaration regarding the sabotage of the pipelines. We think that it is a very important European infrastructure. That is why I also had the opportunity to talk to my Danish and Swedish counterpart and obviously we spoke about it as well.
[There are legal implications of why it is called "sabotage and not "armed attack" or a "terrorist act". The legal definition and its implication is described here. Then there is the issue "Who said it first?". This post documents the notion to frame the event in "sabotage" legal term so only a local investigation in DK and SWE Exclusive Economic zones are conducted.]
SECRETARY BLINKEN: I think first it’s important to make clear that these pipelines – that is, Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 – were not pumping gas into Europe at this time. Nord Stream 2 never became operational, as is well known. Nord Stream 1 has been shut down for weeks because of Russia’s weaponization of energy.
[MRT: This is not true, Russia was able to use legal "Act of Retorsion" which allows Gazprom legal suspension of deliveries to Europe. Merkel said that Russia has not used gas as a weapon in spring 2022. Problems with turbines are described here. It explains how a Margin call of $1.5 Trillion on EU energy utility companies and traders bankrupted EU governments.]
What we’ve been doing – and we’ve also been working on this together for many, many weeks as we saw the Russian aggression in Ukraine and as we saw the ongoing weaponization of energy by Russia – is to work very closely with European partners as well as countries around the world to make sure that there is enough energy on world markets.
[MRT: Enough energy but at what price? Note that UK tried to agree about future deliveries with many exporters in spring 2022. Were they preparing for high prices? Read here, here and here.]
nd so we’ve significantly increased our production as well as making available to Europe liquefied natural gas. And we’re now the leading supplier of LNG to Europe to help compensate for any gas or oil that it’s losing as a result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
[MRT: Piped gas contracts are not bound to the selection of a pipeline. Any other route could be used, contractual parties need to agree about transport fees. After Nordstream 1 route was destroyed parties could use only Ukrainian pipeline system as the Belarus-Poland was sanctioned by Poland. This is a stong case against Russia sabotaging own pipelines. It would be a gift to Ukraine as they would need to beg them to transport to Europe. Or... someone did it just for this purpose to "Help" financially Ukraine.]
We’ve worked to release oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to make sure as well that there is oil on the markets and to help keep prices down. We’ve engaged with the European Union and established months ago a task force to work directly with Europe on ways to decrease demand to help get through the winter, as well as to pursue additional supply and to find ways to speed up the transition to renewables even as we’re getting through this challenging period. So all of that work is ongoing.
[Mrt: So it looks like the strategic petroleum reserve was used for Europe as a bribe?]
My own sense – and I mentioned this the other day – is, look, there’s a lot of hard work to do to make sure that countries and partners get through the winter. Europe itself has taken very significant steps to both decrease demand but also look at ways to pursue the transition to renewables at the same time. And ultimately this is also a tremendous opportunity.
[Mrt: While EU is lacking the UK has extra unused LNG capacity as stated in the UK Energy strategy update from spring 2022. Read details with screenshots here Mission accomplished - UK - from Energy Importer to Energy Exporter.]
It’s a tremendous opportunity to once and for all remove the dependence on Russian energy and thus to take away from Vladimir Putin the weaponization of energy as a means of advancing his imperial designs.
[MRT: The same rhetoric was used by Liz Truss and Boris Johnson through 2021 and 2022 - read the collection of their statements here: UK government does not like Nordstream]
That’s very significant and that offers tremendous strategic opportunity for the years to come, but meanwhile, we’re determined to do everything we possibly can to make sure that the consequences of all of this are not borne by citizens in our countries or, for that matter, around the world.
[MRT: Note that the UK was having energy crisis after it left EU Single energy market mechanism - Brexit as a root-cause of UK instabilities]
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Shaun, thank you. First, on the pipelines, we’ve been in very close contact with our partners in Europe – notably with Denmark and Sweden. We are supporting the investigation into these attacks on the pipelines and working to be able to determine who is responsible.
[MRT: Then what. The part that the USA will be pushing for punishment of perpetrators is somehow missing. Note that the USA is pushing for local investigations and not he international.]
But I don’t want to get ahead of those investigations; that work is ongoing. I think everyone by now is well aware of something that Mélanie alluded to more broadly, but specific to Russia, which is the outrageous misinformation and disinformation campaigns that it engages in.
[MRT: Where is the Presumption of innocence and related rights? Looks like he is hinting to deprivation of a defendant's liberty before the conclusion of a criminal case imposed in the context of judicial proceedings by a judicial organ. Looks to me as shaping the narrative from early on.]
So I really have nothing to say to the absurd allegation from President Putin that we or other partners or allies are somehow responsible for this, but we will get to the bottom of what happened, and we’ll share that information as soon as we’re – as soon as we have it. But I don’t want to get ahead of the investigation that’s ongoing.
[MRT: Well, Norway blew the whistle on 19-09-2022 and the USA verified it on 20-09-2022 and then decided to withdrew from the Baltic Sea. It informed their allies and started to send through diplomatic and private channels that USA is not looking for confrontation but that they will defend allies if attacked. This makes them legally complicit I suppose? You can look at the data supporting this view here. So IF SWEDK investigations are stalled then he does not need to share anything?]
When it comes to the rhetoric we’ve heard from President Putin on nuclear weapons, you heard us speak to this very directly at the United Nations this week. This kind of loose talk about nuclear weapons is the height of irresponsibility and it’s something that we take very seriously. We are looking very carefully to see if Russia is actually doing anything that suggests that they are contemplating the use of nuclear weapons. To date we’ve not seen them take these actions, but we also know that Russia’s engaged in horrific – a horrific brutalization of Ukraine. And so the threats that they make, we take very seriously. As to President Putin’s intent, I’m not going to speculate on what’s in his mind. I can just tell you that we plan against every possible scenario, including this one.
[MRT: The sudden withdrawal of USS Kaersarge group from the Baltic sea on 22-23/09/2022 after it received the warning from Norway o 19/09/2022 was due to strategic imperative of preferring own security over that of their allies - here. Only a very serious intel could cause such move in such a short time. It is possible that other actions to provoke Russia were planned as well.]
19 Sept 2022 - NOR Prime minister and his defense minister Gram fisit USA and bring some high level intel. There are indices that this could be about Boris Johnson´s mission to attack Nordstream which Liz Truss re-signed. It looks like Norway was finding itself very vulnerable and was seeking extra protection from the USA, both have later high level meetings in Pentagon.
20 Sept 2022 - The UK Queen Elisabeth docks in Norfolk. It is on diplomatic mission.
“We'll shut it down until we can figure out what's going on.”
23 Sept 2022 - USA: Secretary Antony J. Blinken at the Ministerial Meeting of the Minerals Security Partnership
25 Sept 2022 - Office of Management and Budget visits USS Ford
The Atlantic Future Forum exists to help strengthen the defence, security, technology and trading relationships between democratic nations.
The data from September show that:
1. Norway blew a whistle on 19/09/2022 - here
2. USA informs allies that they are leaving Baltic Sea on 22-23/09/2022 - here
3. The SWE + DK Navies detect a sub near Bornholm - here, here, here, here
4. Liz Truss goes into hiding on 23/09/2022 - here
Do you get it now?
...More to come!
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