Jen Psaki News

The United States and Germany on Wednesday unveiled an agreement on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline under which Berlin pledged to respond to any attempt by Russia to use energy as a weapon against Ukraine and other Central and Eastern European countries.The pact aims to mitigate what critics see as the strategic dangers of the $11 billion pipeline, now 98% complete, being built under the Baltic Sea to carry gas from Russia’s Arctic region to Germany.U.S. officials have opposed the pipeline…

President Joe Biden will soon order U.S. transportation agencies to crack down on anti-competitive conduct and unjust fees in the rail and sea shipping industries to try to lower costs to consumers, the White House said on Thursday.It said his executive order is aimed at the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) and the Surface Transportation Board (STB).White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki noted that shipping costs had risen dramatically during the months of the pandemic.The order…

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden will sign the Alaska tourism bill on Monday, allowing cruise ships to return to the state this year."This law will allow large cruise ships to visit Alaska this year, a critical step toward returning to normal in a state where one in 10 jobs is in the tourism industry," Psaki said.

The White House said on Friday it had pared down its infrastructure bill to $1.7 trillion from $2.25 trillion, with cuts to investments in broadband as well as roads and bridges, in an effort to find common ground with Republican lawmakers.The effort represented a desire by President Joe Biden's team to engage with the opposition party on an issue that the Democratic president has made a priority in his early days in office.But the two sides still remained far apart, and one person…

The U.S. government relaxed a long-standing maritime law protecting domestic shipping commerce to allow an undisclosed company to transport gasoline and diesel to ports in the East Coast after a cyberattack crippled the nation's largest fuel pipeline network.The Jones Act, implemented in 1920, requires goods moved between U.S. ports to be carried by ships built domestically and staffed by U.S. crews. The waiver will allow foreign vessels to ship petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel to the country from the Gulf Coast to U.S.

The U.S. Transportation Department has completed its assessment of what ships are available to carry petroleum products from the Gulf to the Eastern Seaboard and is ready to review any Jones Act waiver requests, the White House said on Wednesday after a ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline disrupted supplies.The Jones Act requires goods moved between U.S. ports to be carried by ships built domestically and staffed by U.S. crews.The Department of Homeland Security must issue…

The state of Florida sued President Joe Biden's administration in federal court on Thursday seeking to block the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's decision to prevent the U.S. cruise industry from immediately resuming operations paused for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.The suit, filed by Republican Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody in Tampa, asked the court to issue an injunction barring enforcement of the CDC's order and to quickly lift a "nationwide lockdown" on the industry in place since March 2020.

An Iranian cargo ship has come under attack in the Red Sea, Al Arabiya TV reported on Tuesday, quoting unnamed sources, and semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim said the vessel was targeted by a limpet mine.Al Arabiya cited the sources as saying the vessel was attacked off the coast of Eritrea and was affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, but provided no evidence to support the assertion.Tasnim identified the ship as the Iran Saviz. “The vessel Iran Saviz has been stationed in the Red Sea for the past few years to support Iranian commandos sent on commercial vessel (antipiracy) escort missions,” it reported.Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Fourteen U.S. states including Louisiana and Wyoming filed suits on Wednesday against President Joe Biden's administration to challenge his pause on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters.The legal actions, which seek to restore regular federal drilling auctions, come a day before the administration is set to launch a review of the oil and gas leasing program.Biden, a Democrat, in January signed an executive order putting on hold new leasing pending that review. During his election campaign…

The Biden administration on Friday identified a Russian ship and a company it believes are helping to build the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but the entities had already been sanctioned by the Trump administration and the project's opponents in Congress said the move would do little to halt work on it.The State Department said in a report to Congress that the Russian ship, the Fortuna, and its owner, KVT-RUS, had been designated, a process that starts new sanctions, two lawmakers said.Both entities had been sanctioned by former President Donald Trump on his last full day in office last month for helping to build the natural gas pipeline to bring Russian gas to Europe via Germany."Simply put…

The Biden administration is expected to name as early as Friday the companies it believes are helping build Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, five sources said, a move that could eventually prompt sanctions on the nearly-completed project.The State Department report to Congress, which may come on Friday, is expected to list companies the administration believes are helping to complete the natural gas pipeline that Russia's state energy company Gazprom says is more than 90% complete.Sanctions law that went into effect on Jan.

Several U.S. Representatives on Wednesday raised pressure on the State Department to share plans on potential sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline Russia is racing to finish to take fuel to Europe."If completed, Nord Stream 2 would enable the Putin regime to further weaponize Russia's energy resources to exert political pressure throughout Europe," two Republicans including Michael McCaul, and two Democrats including Marcy Kaptur, wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.U.S. representatives and senators have said that the Biden administration has missed a deadline of Feb. 16 to issue Congress a report required by recently passed law on companies helping Russia's state energy company Gazprom lay pipeline…

President Joe Biden believes the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline is a "bad deal for Europe" and his administration will be reviewing restrictions on the project included in a bill that passed during the Trump administration, the White House said on Tuesday.The restrictions on the undersea pipeline project were included in the annual defense policy bill that passed on Jan. 1. Sanctions in the measure apply to any companies helping Gazprom, the Russian state energy company leading the project…

The commander of the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet Vice Admiral Robert Thomas urged Southeast Asian nations to form a combined maritime force to patrol areas of the South China Sea where territorial tensions flare with China, reports Bloomberg. While reassuring allies in the region it will back them against China’s assertions to about four-fifths of the sea, Thomas said that countries could streamline cooperation on maritime security while respecting sovereignty and coastal space. China has ratcheted up pressure on some Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, and has accelerated reclamation work on reefs in the waters criss-crossed by claims from Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, the Philippines and Malaysia.

The United States on Thursday partially lifted a long-time ban on lethal weapon sales to Vietnam to help it improve maritime security, a historic move that comes nearly 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War. "The State Department has taken steps to allow for the future transfer of maritime security-related defense articles to Vietnam," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a briefing. State Department officials told a separate briefing that sales of any specific weapons would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis as requests came in from Vietnam. They said the focus would be on helping Vietnam patrol and defend itself in the South China Sea, amid growing naval challenges from China, but said weapons sales could potentially include airborne systems as well as ships.

U.S. and Chinese military officials will hold talks on rules of behavior at the Pentagon on Tuesday and Wednesday, a U.S. official said, days after the United States denounced a "dangerous" Chinese jet intercept of a U.S. Navy patrol plane. Last Tuesday, a Chinese fighter pilot flew acrobatic maneuvers around the U.S. Navy's P-8 Poseidon antisubmarine and reconnaissance plane, crossing over and under it in international airspace over the South China Sea, the Pentagon said. At one point, the jet flew wingtip-to-wingtip about 10 yards (9 meters) from the Poseidon, then performed a barrel roll over the top of it. The U.S. defense official said other close intercepts occurred in March, April and May.

Vietnam says will "resolutely defend its sovereignty." China says Vietnam making "irresponsible accusations" against it; Philippines submitted arbitration case against China in March. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said his government was considering various "defence options" against China, including legal action, following the deployment of a Chinese oil rig to waters in the South China Sea that Hanoi also claims. Dung's comments, given in a written response to questions from Reuters, were the first time he has suggested Vietnam would take legal measures, and drew an angry response from China, which insisted the rig was in its sovereign waters.

China hit back at the United States over the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday, after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said recent Chinese moves in the waters were "provocative". Tensions rose in the resource-rich sea last week after China moved a giant oil rig into an area also claimed by Vietnam. Each country accused the other of ramming its ships near the disputed Paracel Islands. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, rejecting rival claims to parts of it from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. "He (Kerry) said China's introduction of an oil rig and numerous government vessels in waters disputed with Vietnam was provocative," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

The United States is concerned about dangerous conduct and intimidation in the South China Sea after reports of a Chinese vessel ramming Vietnamese ships, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also said China's deployment of an oil rig in a disputed part of the South China Sea was "provocative and unhelpful" to security in the region. (Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by Susan Heavey)

The United States could impose sanctions on a range of Russian officials over the crisis in Ukraine, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday. Asked in an interview on Twitter whether the United States was considering the possibility of hitting Russian President Vladimir Putin personally with sanctions, Psaki replied: "Range of officials under consideration. Earlier, in response to a question over whether the prospect of imposing sanctions on individuals, companies and business sectors was effective, Psaki replied: "Yes. Impt (important) to lay out consequences. U.S. able to sanction people, companies, and sectors. Goal not sanctions.