{"id":599651,"date":"2021-07-21T20:37:10","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T00:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=599651"},"modified":"2021-07-21T20:37:12","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T00:37:12","slug":"reporter-grills-biden-admin-on-russian-pipeline-are-you-saying-democrat-senators-are-irrational","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/reporter-grills-biden-admin-on-russian-pipeline-are-you-saying-democrat-senators-are-irrational\/","title":{"rendered":"Reporter Grills Biden Admin On Russian Pipeline: \u2018Are You Saying\u2019 Democrat Senators Are \u2018Irrational\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/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%2Freporter-grills-biden-admin-on-russian-pipeline-are-you-saying-democrat-senators-are-irrational%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=599651&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><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Ned-Price-scaled-e1625625051910.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Associated Press reporter Matt Lee grilled State Department spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday over a deal that the Biden administration made with Germany to allow for the completion of Russia\u2019s Nord Stream 2 pipeline.<\/p>\n<p>Price said that the administration came to the conclusion, \u201cas any rational observer would, that sanctions are unlikely to stop, to stand in the way of the completion of the pipeline, to prevent the pipeline\u2019s construction. And so, that is why this administration determined that it was not in our interest to significantly undermine, to weaken our bilateral relationship, our ally, the relationship we have with our ally, Germany\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<div id>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Really? That\u2019s it?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:<\/strong>&nbsp;That is it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;You have nothing else to say? Okay. All right, well, I was going to start with Sesame Street and \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:<\/strong>&nbsp;Grover asked some hard-hitting questions.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;My daughter \u2013 yes, exactly. My daughter \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:<\/strong>&nbsp;You might want to take a cue.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;My four-year-old daughter is an enormous fan, and I\u2019m sure she\u2019ll love to see it. But I won\u2019t start with that, because there are other, more pressing matters.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:<\/strong>&nbsp;I would welcome it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;I\u2019m sure you would. Toria, up on the Hill, just a while ago said that you guys have reached an agreement with the Germans on Nord Stream 2, and so I\u2019m wondering if you \u2013 recognizing their \u2013 that this joint statement that she talked about hasn\u2019t come out, yet \u2026 I\u2019m just wondering if there\u2019s any more you can add to what she said ahead of the release of that statement.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:<\/strong>&nbsp;There is not more that I\u2019m prepared to add right now. We talked about this some yesterday, and we talked about our rationale in approaching this challenge, and I made very clear yesterday, as did the president in his meeting with Chancellor Merkel earlier this month, that we continue to oppose Nord Stream 2. We continue to view it as a Kremlin geopolitical project whose goal is to expand Russia\u2019s influence over Europe\u2019s energy resources. We continue to believe it\u2019s a bad deal for Germany, it\u2019s a bad deal for Ukraine, it\u2019s a bad deal for Europe and Europe\u2019s broader energy security goals.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;And yet you\u2019re prepared to allow it to go ahead without \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:<\/strong>&nbsp;And \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014 without trying to \u2013 without trying to stop it, even at this late hour?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:<\/strong>&nbsp;And to demonstrate that opposition, we have consistently applied sanctions and examined potentially sanctionable activity, and acted on that. And of course, we have in May imposed sanctions on 19 entities and vessels, and at the same time \u2013 as you\u2019ve heard from the secretary, as you\u2019ve heard from the president \u2013 we have come to the conclusion, as any rational observer would, that sanctions are unlikely to stop, to stand in the way of the completion of the pipeline, to prevent the pipeline\u2019s construction. And so, that is why this administration determined that it was not in our interest to significantly undermine, to weaken our bilateral relationship, our ally, the relationship we have with our ally, Germany, for a \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Okay, but it\u2019s really \u2013 no need \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014 but if I could just \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;There\u2019s no need to repeat everything that you said yesterday.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014 no, no, no, but if I could just finish a couple points \u2013 for a pipeline whose construction would continue, nonetheless.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Now, to your question \u2013 and I mentioned this yesterday, or I alluded to it \u2013 the Germans have put forward useful proposals, and we\u2019ve been able to make progress on steps to achieve our shared goal, and that shared goal is very important. That shared goal is ensuring that this pipeline cannot be weaponized against Ukraine, against any other European partner. That is our goal in doing so. I do expect we\u2019ll be able to share more details on this today.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Okay.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:<\/strong>&nbsp;But one other point I want to really emphasize here: We are committed to following the law; we are committed to continuing to examine entities that have engaged in potentially sanctionable activity. Any decisions on sanctions or sanctions-related decisions, those will be made on a case-by-case basis consistent with the law.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Okay. Well, just three very quick points. One. If you\u2019re committed to following the law, then you would actually follow the law, right? Which says that \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>And we have, correct.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, I think that a lot of people think that\u2019s debatable. The second thing is that you say \u201cany rational observer\u201d would realize that sanctions wouldn\u2019t stop this. Well, are you saying that members of Congress, who are Democrats as well as Republicans, are irrational?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>We have looked at this \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Are you saying that Senator Shaheen is irrational, that Senator Menendez is irrational \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>We \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014 because they think that this could actually be stopped?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>We\u2019ve looked at this issue very closely, and we have examined \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;And they haven\u2019t?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>I\u2019m speaking for us.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Oh, right. So you \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>I\u2019m the spokesperson for the Department of State.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;So you know more than they do? That\u2019s the idea?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:<\/strong>&nbsp;I\u2019m saying I can speak to the Department of State, and what I can say is that we have looked at this issue very closely. We examined a range of options, a range of tools at our disposal. We came to the conclusion that for a pipeline that was 90 \u2013 more than 90 percent complete, on the day this administration assumed office, to potentially undermine our relationship with Germany, and to send a signal to our allies and to our partners the world over that the United States is willing to throw asunder important relationships, that\u2019s not something that we were eager to do, certainly.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>We also know that perhaps now more than ever we need our allies, we need our partners, across a range of challenges to confront a host of threats. And in this briefing room, we\u2019ve discussed our cooperation with Germany on any number of fronts, from the PRC, to Afghanistan, to the climate crisis, to the shared values that we have more broadly.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I will also say that even as we came to this conclusion and going forward, we have shown that we are going to always follow the law. We enacted sanctions, as I said, in May on 19 entities and vessels. That is in contrast to two sanctions that were levied by the previous administration under which more than 90 percent of this pipeline was completed.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;All right. The last thing, and it\u2019s kind of a minor thing, but you keep referring to this \u2013 to the pipeline as a Russian geopolitical project, as if in some way the phrase \u201cgeopolitical project\u201d is pejorative. Why?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>Well \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;There are innumerable U.S. policies that are geopolitical projects.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>Of course. Our \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;So why do you \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>No, no. I don\u2019t \u2013 we have not intended the term \u201cgeopolitical project\u201d to be \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yeah, you have. You use it constantly. It\u2019s, like, in the talking points along with \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>It is \u2013 to us, it is more than a pipeline.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yeah.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>It is more than a pipeline that carries \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, so is your campaign against Huawei and 5G, so is your campaign against any number of things.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>I don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to find \u2013 I don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to find \u2013 I didn\u2019t \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;So \u201cgeopolitical project\u201d is not intended to be a \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>A geopolitical \u2013 a \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2014 and not intended to be pejorative?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>Oh, no, no, no. It is \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;You\u2019re not saying that Russia can\u2019t have geopolitical projects because you don\u2019t like them.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>States have geopolitical projects.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Okay, thanks.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>This is a geopolitical \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;That\u2019s all.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>No, no, but you asked the question.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, I did, but \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>MR PRICE:&nbsp;<\/strong>This is a geopolitical project intended to exert, and to expand, Russia\u2019s influence over Ukraine and other parts of Europe.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Associated Press reporter Matt Lee grilled State Department spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday over a deal that the Biden administration made with Germany to allow for the completion of Russia\u2019s &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-599651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599651","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}