{"id":1916659,"date":"2023-04-19T11:11:50","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T15:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-atlantic-council-says-russian-oil-sales-fuel-putins-war-machine-one-of-its-biggest-donors-doesnt-care\/"},"modified":"2023-04-19T11:14:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T15:14:05","slug":"the-atlantic-council-says-russian-oil-sales-fuel-putins-war-machine-one-of-its-biggest-donors-doesnt-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-atlantic-council-says-russian-oil-sales-fuel-putins-war-machine-one-of-its-biggest-donors-doesnt-care\/","title":{"rendered":"The Atlantic Council Says Russian Oil Sales Fuel &#8216;Putin&#8217;s War Machine.&#8217; One Of Its Biggest Donors Doesn&#8217;t Care."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-atlantic-council-says-russian-oil-sales-fuel-putins-war-machine-one-of-its-biggest-donors-doesnt-care%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1916659&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<p><h2>Atlantic Council sponsor Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is buying up discounted barrels of Russian oil<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption> \t\t\t\tRussian President Vladimir Putin, Atlantic Council CEO Fred Kemp, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. head and Sultan Al Jaber.\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Atlantic Council has positioned itself as one of the Beltway\u2019s most vocal critics of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. But one of its biggest donors is snatching up a massive amount of discounted Russian oil, fueling what the prominent think tank has called &#8220;Russia\u2019s war machine.&#8221;\t<\/p>\n<p>The United Arab Emirates, through its national oil companies, has purchased hundreds of thousands of barrels of discounted Russian oil, the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/saudi-arabia-u-a-e-scoop-up-russian-oil-products-at-steep-discounts-d327a2ee?mod=djemalertNEWS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reports<\/a>. The relationship has frustrated American officials but proved lucrative for the Emiratis, who have been able to turn the Kremlin crude for a handsome profit on the world market.<\/p>\n<p>These profits will likely benefit the Atlantic Council, which has urged foreign governments to boycott Russian energy to avoid funding Russian president Vladimir Putin\u2019s &#8220;war machine&#8221; and &#8220;war crimes.&#8221; Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., which recently stored 700,000 barrels of oil for Russia\u2019s Gazprom, is a major sponsor of the Atlantic Council\u2019s Gulf Energy Forum. The UAE embassy in 2021 gave more than $1 million to the Atlantic Council, while the UAE&#8217;s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation gave between $100,000 and $250,000, according to donor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlanticcouncil.org\/in-depth-research-reports\/report\/2021-annual-report-honor-roll-of-contributors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">records<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The UAE\u2019s oil deals could make things awkward for the Atlantic Council, which has been at the forefront of calls for aggressive steps to thwart Russia with economic sanctions. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlanticcouncil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Memo-to-NATO-leaders.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a memo<\/a> to NATO leaders this month, the Atlantic Council said that &#8220;a failure to fully exercise the West\u2019s economic leverage risks prolonging this conflict by fueling Putin\u2019s war machine.&#8221; Atlantic Council senior fellows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/videos\/2022-03-08\/atlantic-council-agnia-grigas-on-russia-oil-ban-talks-video\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called for<\/a> sanctions on the purchase of Russian oil in order to &#8220;stop funding Russia\u2019s war machine&#8221; and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlanticcouncil.org\/blogs\/ukrainealert\/europe-must-stop-funding-vladimir-putins-war-crimes-in-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">urged<\/a> Europe to halt energy purchases from Russia to &#8220;stop funding Vladimir Putin\u2019s war crimes in Ukraine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Atlantic Council president Fred Kempe, writing at CNBC, recently decried Putin\u2019s &#8220;weaponization&#8221; of the energy industry to fuel his &#8220;criminal war in Ukraine.&#8221; In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2023\/01\/14\/climate-change-oil-ceo-sultan-al-jaber-is-ideal-person-to-lead-cop-28.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">op-ed<\/a>, Kempe touted Sultan Al Jaber, the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., as an &#8220;ideal choice&#8221; to lead a United Nations climate conference later this year.<\/p>\n<p>Kempe\u2019s op-ed caused a minor stir in the think tank world after the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/the-uae-has-donated-millions-to-the-atlantic-council-they-just-got-a-glowing-op-ed-from-the-think-tanks-chief\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> Atlantic Council\u2019s financial ties to UAE, which Kempe failed to disclose. CNBC added an editor\u2019s note to Kempe\u2019s article, saying that the Atlantic Council\u2019s relationship with UAE was &#8220;an obvious conflict of interest&#8221; that &#8220;does not meet our standards of transparency.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the sort of foreign entanglement that has caused headaches for the Atlantic Council before.<\/p>\n<p>The think tank has had a lucrative relationship with the increasingly authoritarian Turkish government. Kempe met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeednews.com\/article\/johnhudson\/erdogan-was-schmoozing-washington-insiders-when-his\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an event<\/a> in Washington in 2017 while the Turkish autocrat\u2019s bodyguards were attacking peaceful protesters outside the venue.<\/p>\n<p>Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian energy company linked to Hunter Biden, paid the Atlantic Council $300,000 as part of an image rehabilitation campaign in 2017. The Atlantic Council entered the partnership even after State Department officials warned the think tank of Burisma\u2019s rampant corruption.<\/p>\n<p>Two Atlantic Council scholars <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/atlantic-council-scholars-made-millions-lobbying-for-putin-backed-pipeline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lobbied<\/a> on behalf of the Russian gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2. Several companies that constructed the pipeline have donated to the Atlantic Council over the years.<\/p>\n<p>The Atlantic Council has helped UAE burnish its image in other ways, even as the oil-rich Gulf nation has faced criticism over its human rights record. Last year, the think tank <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/atlantic-council-helps-the-united-arab-emirates-peddle-influence-in-washington\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">organized<\/a> an all-expenses-paid junket for congressional staffers to meet with Emirati officials regarding its efforts to fight climate change.\t<\/p>\n<p>American officials are increasingly concerned by the Emiratis\u2019 growing ties with Russia. American spies intercepted communications of Russian intelligence officials boasting they had convinced the Emiratis &#8220;to work together against US and UK intelligence agencies,&#8221; the Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/intelligence-leak-russia-uae-pentagon-9941a3bb88b48d4dbb5218649ea67325\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>An Atlantic Council spokesman defended the relationship with the Emiratis, saying the think tank&#8217;s experts maintain &#8220;total intellectual independence&#8221; from corporate and foreign donors.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Atlantic Council sponsor Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is buying up discounted barrels of Russian oil Russian President Vladimir Putin, Atlantic Council CEO Fred Kemp, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. head and Sultan Al Jaber. The Atlantic Council has positioned itself as one of the Beltway\u2019s most vocal critics of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":1916660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[8710,4192,6980,8641,7118,5131,6783,6954,7393,9594,3965,5219,6696],"class_list":["post-1916659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon","tag-biggest","tag-atlantic","tag-care","tag-council","tag-doesnt","tag-donors","tag-fuel","tag-machine","tag-oil","tag-putins","tag-russian","tag-sales","tag-war"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1916659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1916660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1916659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1916659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1916659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}