“US, UK and other countries,” in the original Reuters dispatch, later adding some Nordics, filed a resolution against China at the UN — and lost.
Proposed by “Western countries,” as the New York Times put it, it “failed 19 to 17, with 11 abstaining.” Latin Americans, Africans and Asians voted against or abstained, mostly from Brazil to Venezuela, from India to the United Arab Emirates. Support for the US came more from Europeans.
It was the day after an even worse defeat for Joe Biden, with OPEC+’s decision to cut oil production — and raise prices. As the vice president of S&P Global explained on CNBC finance, “this is seen as a coup against Biden, as political interference in the US elections”.
As CNN reported, the White House, “in a panic”, tried to avoid it until the last moment, but not even the Emirates gave in, as the Financial Times highlighted in the midst of real-time coverage on Wednesday. Hence the reaction of Biden’s spokeswoman that “it is clear that OPEC+ is taking Russia’s side.”
Threats of retaliation remained, such as support for a Congressional project of sanctions against Opec+, but the main thing seems to be avoiding increases until the election – hence the warning of releasing more oil from the US strategic reserve and the request for a study to ban the export of American oil.
In the NYT’s digital headline, the tone was affront, “In break with the West, OPEC and Russia cut oil production”. Tom that extended to journalists from Reuters and CNBC, who carried out a squabble with the Saudi Arabian energy minister, which is the main force in OPEC.
As highlighted by Chinese Guancha and Russian RT, the Saudi minister declined to respond to the agency, saying that it values anonymous American sources more than him, and also the financial channel, criticizing a “provocative” question he spoke in use of oil “as a weapon”.
A few hours later, with oil prices already on the rise, the Wall Street Journal (top image) reported that “the Biden administration is preparing to ease sanctions on Venezuela’s authoritarian regime to allow Chevron to resume oil extraction.” , according to people familiar with the proposal”.
The newspaper notes that “the information about the possible US rapprochement with Venezuela comes at a time when the OPEC+ countries agreed to reduce production, angering the Biden government.”
GERMANY VS. USA
Amid the collapse of German industry, without cheap Russian gas, Berlin criticized Washington for the “lunar” or “astronomical” prices of American gas. It was in an interview with the economy minister to NOZ, echoed by other Germans like Die Welt and Americans like CNBC.
“Some countries, including friendly ones, sometimes hit moon prices and that brings up issues that we have to talk about,” he said, calling for “solidarity” specifically from the US. It proposes that the European Union “pool its market power and orchestrate a synchronized buying behavior”.
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