A former Polish Defense Minister, Radek Sikorski, has attributed to the United States the sabotage of two pipelines, Nord Stream 1 and 2, which carry natural gas from Russia to Germany. “Thank you, USA,” Sikorski wrote on Twitter. Sikorski was Minister of National Defense from 2005 - 2007 and served as Deputy Minister of National Defense and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, previously. He is currently an elected member of the European parliament.
Following the Nord Stream pipeline system leaks, the US is 'ready to provide support' to Europe, according to AFP News. But was CIA behind the Nord Stream pipeline attack?
Three months from now, an EU-wide embargo on Russian crude oil imports will kick in, shutting off almost all shipments of the commodity from Russia to Europe. But right now, Europe is importing over 1 million barrels of Russian crude daily and has been doing so for the last month. Someone is stocking up before the taps turn dry.
The White House called on India and China to implement the G7’s price restrictions on Russian oil exports. Since the West started to curb energy exports from Moscow in response to the war in Ukraine, India and China have significantly increased their imports of Russian energy. On Tuesday, Moscow and Beijing signed a new agreement to trade oil in yuan and rubles.
According to the SCMP, China bought a total of 2.35 million tonnes of LNG from Russia and is now aggressively reselling Russian gas to Europe.
The import of energy goods from Russia, such as crude oil, refined fuels, distillates, coal, and gas, into the United States is prohibited. Now, the US is worried over routing of Russian oil through India.
The Syrian Oil Ministry released a statement on 9 August accusing US forces occupying Syria of being responsible for the theft of most of the country’s oil.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo acknowledged that India will continue rejecting US and EU calls to boycott Russian oil due to the allure of cheap oil.
A notification from the RBI has announced that India now allows international trade settlement in Rupee with Russia, Sri Lanka, and other nations.
The U.S. dollar is used by nations for international transactions because it is a stable currency that is easily convertible all over the globe and because resources like oil are priced in dollars. However, will the US dollar be replaced with BRICS currencies in the near future?
