Russia Hawks Outmaneuvered by the White House on Defense Bill

[excalibur]

Uh-huh. Russsian collusion from the Biden [mal]administration.

Congressional Democratic leaders, in a compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act (the annual must-pass defense bill), blocked a trio of Russia sanctions measures targeting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, 35 oligarchs identified by Russian dissident Alexei Navalny’s foundation, and American purchases of Russian sovereign debt, Republican aides told National Review. Amid a lobbying effort from the White House, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Gregory Meeks, and House Armed Services chairman Adam Smith were among the senior Democrats who purportedly worked to block the proposals.

After consideration of amendments in the Senate stalled last week, bipartisan negotiators finalized a new NDAA draft that omitted the three sanctions amendments. They completed the draft amid a flurry of diplomacy surrounding Russia’s massive military buildup on Ukraine’s border and President Biden’s call with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Throughout all of this, top Biden-administration officials have threatened to impose severe financial sanctions on Russia were it to invade Ukraine, but they’ve signaled that they would not impose the penalties as a preemptive move.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that Washington could pressure Kyiv to give up some of its hold on eastern parts of Ukraine that are currently held by Russia-backed forces.

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Russia Hawks Outmaneuvered by the White House on Defense Bill | National Review

A trio of Russia-focused sanctions amendments failed to make it into a final version of the National Defense Authorization Act this week.

www.nationalreview.com

 

[White 6]

Uh-huh. Russsian collusion from the Biden [mal]administration.

​

Congressional Democratic leaders, in a compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act (the annual must-pass defense bill), blocked a trio of Russia sanctions measures targeting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, 35 oligarchs identified by Russian dissident Alexei Navalny’s foundation, and American purchases of Russian sovereign debt, Republican aides told National Review. Amid a lobbying effort from the White House, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Gregory Meeks, and House Armed Services chairman Adam Smith were among the senior Democrats who purportedly worked to block the proposals.​

​

After consideration of amendments in the Senate stalled last week, bipartisan negotiators finalized a new NDAA draft that omitted the three sanctions amendments. They completed the draft amid a flurry of diplomacy surrounding Russia’s massive military buildup on Ukraine’s border and President Biden’s call with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Throughout all of this, top Biden-administration officials have threatened to impose severe financial sanctions on Russia were it to invade Ukraine, but they’ve signaled that they would not impose the penalties as a preemptive move.​

​

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that Washington could pressure Kyiv to give up some of its hold on eastern parts of Ukraine that are currently held by Russia-backed forces.​

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Russia Hawks Outmaneuvered by the White House on Defense Bill | National Review

A trio of Russia-focused sanctions amendments failed to make it into a final version of the National Defense Authorization Act this week.

www.nationalreview.com

Most of that didn't raise an eyebrow much further. What jumped out other than what I was aware of was "American purchases of Russian sovereign debt". Why the heck would we be purchasing Russian debt? We've got enough of our own without buying into other country's debt, particularly Russia.

 

[Esdraelon]

Fookin' HYPOCRITES! It makes me want to spit in their faces.

 

[Ivan88]

Russian debt is probably more solvent than US debt and probably pays better too.