The US military and its Kurdish ‘Syrian Democratic Forces’ allies are sitting on top of 90 percent of Syria’s oil riches and some of the country’s most fertile agricultural lands, systematically starving Damascus of energy and food self-sufficiency. Syrian authorities have vowed to one day restore control over all the country’s territory.
US occupation forces and their Syrian Kurdish allies have looted another 94 tankers and trucks loaded with oil and wheat, Syrian media have reported, citing local sources.
A convoy of 44 tankers from fields in al-Swaidiya was said to have been driven across the illegal al-Mahmoudiya border crossing point into Iraq, with another 30 tankers of crude shipped from an unknown location through al-Waleed, another border checkpoint that’s presently outside Damascus’s control.
Separately, sources in al-Malikiyah, northern Syria, said that US forces shipped 20 truckloads of wheat toward northern Iraq through the Semalka border crossing point between US-backed Kurdish militant-administered territory and Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government.
Syrian media reports like clockwork on the US’s illegal oil and food smuggling activities, with the US and its partners organizing convoys containing dozens of tankers or trucks at least once a week, and sometimes multiple times. Last week, the US reportedly shipped 43 tankers of oil in Syrian al-Jazeera into northern Iraq.
Damascus has repeatedly slammed Washington over its activities, which have robbed the country of access to about 90 percent of its oil resources, and much of its arable land, and forced it to turn to its Russian and Iranian partners for food and energy assistance. Before the foreign-backed conflict unleashed in 2011 by the US and its regional allies, Syria enjoyed modest self-sufficiency in both food and energy.
The US has kept at least 800 troops in Syria east of the Euphrates River since 2017, with the troops assigned to guard energy fields, and to show the US’s presence to prevent Damascus from simply retaking control over its internationally recognized borders. Along with the looting of Syria’s resources, Washington and its European allies have also enforced a crushing sanctions regime against the nation, aimed at preventing the import of all sorts of goods, including medicines and medical equipment.
The Biden administration has striven to keep its Syria policy low key and below the radar of any media attention, assuring that the troops it has in the country are there to prevent a resurgence of Daesh (ISIS).
President Biden and the White House have firmly stuck to the ‘anti-terrorism’ justification for occupation after predecessor Donald Trump horrified officials in Washington by admitting that the US was in Syria “only for the oil,” sparking fears that the US may face legal sanction for violating international laws against pillaging.
The findings come despite the pouring of over $800 billion of US taxpayer money into the military in 2021, and notwithstanding the Pentagon’s heavy reliance on the Air Force to do the heavy lifting in the majority of its operations across the globe, including the bombing of multiple countries.
Just five of the 49 types of aircraft in the US military’s arsenal met mission readiness targets for five or more years during the period between fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2021, the Government Accountability Office has revealed.
In a comprehensive 352-page report released this week, the congressional spending watchdog indicated that issues like aircraft age, maintenance problems and spare parts availability dramatically hindered readiness levels – measured by fleet aircraft ability to fly and perform at least one mission.
Only the Air Force’s UH-1N, a granddaddy of a helicopter produced in the 1970s, was deemed mission capable throughout the eleven-year period studied.
The Navy’s EP-3E anti-submarine reconnaissance turboprop was second best, meeting the annual mission capability goals for seven of eleven years.
The Air Force’s stealthy B-2 bomber and RC-135S-W command and control aircraft got a score of six years, with the Navy’s E-6B C&C plane rounding out the top five, deemed mission ready for five of 11 years.
The remaining 44 planes and helicopters in the list scored 3 or below, with a whopping 26 military aircraft types failing to meet mission capability requirements for even a single year. Among these were the Marine Corps’ much-hyped F-35B strike fighter, Air Force F-16s, F-22s and Marine KC-130J tankers, Air Force C-17 cargo haulers, Navy E-C2 C&C aircraft, and ten different Army, Navy and Marine Corps choppers, including the CV-22 Osprey.
The Navy’s sleek F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet multirole jet, depicted in this year’s critically-acclaimed summer blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, was deemed unready to fly for all 11 years.
The report calculated that during the FY-2011-2021 timeframe, the only branch of the military to improve its mission capability rate was the Army, with the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps all suffering a drop in readiness. In FY 2021, only two of the 49 studied aircraft met the mission-capability criteria.
The GAO pointed to a broad range of factors affecting readiness levels, from delays in fleet upgrades and forced extensions of service life to unexpected breakdowns requiring costly repairs and new parts, shortages of said components, delays in their delivery, and even the loss of parts makers entirely. On top of that, the watchdog cited a lack of depot maintenance capability, a shortage of trained maintenance personnel, and problems with access to the necessary technical data to make repairs possible.
Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures as he speaks during a news conference in Sao Bernardo do Campo near Sao Paulo, Brazil March 10, 2021. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli
There is growing investor pessimism that Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will govern with fiscal discipline as the country's central bank chief likened a market selloff to a "Liz Truss moment for Brazil."
Brazil's real currency , and Bovespa stock index (.BVSP) both lost around 4% on Thursday, as Lula's brief honeymoon with investors soured over his public commitment to prioritize social spending over fiscal rectitude and delays in naming his economic team.
The real clawed back losses on Friday, with the dollar closing the session down 1.24 after a volatile day of trading. Stocks were up over 2%.
Despite those gains, jitters remained, with investors calling for Lula to restore firm rules for public spending after major outlays by outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro during the pandemic and election campaign.
Central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto, speaking at an event in Sao Paulo, said Thursday's rout was the latest example of markets demanding fiscal discipline amid a challenging global backdrop of high inflation, low growth and little risk appetite.
"I don't know if that was a Liz Truss moment for Brazil, but it was a clear demonstration of the markets sensitivity to the fiscal issue," Campos Neto said, referring to the former British prime minister who resigned after the markets punished her push for unfunded tax cuts.
Citigroup Inc.(C.N) said in a report that investors may have been mistaken in thinking that Lula would pursue an orthodox fiscal agenda, adding that the bank had decided to cut its risk exposure to Brazil in the face of this reassessment.
"The market seemed to have convinced itself that Lula would be fiscally orthodox. The most recent news now casts doubt on this hypothesis," Dirk Willer, Citi Research's head of emerging markets strategy, wrote on Thursday night.
Milton Maluhy Filho, the chief executive of Brazil's largest lender Itau Unibanco (ITUB4.SA), said on Friday that a balance needed to be struck between social spending and putting public finances in order.
"We think that fiscal responsibility and social responsibility should go hand in hand," he said on a conference call.
Investors and even Lula allies have also expressed concern about delays in naming his finance minister. Lula has said he will only name his cabinet once he returns from the COP27 climate summit in Egypt.
Senator Simone Tebet, of the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement party (MDB), said the finance minister should be his first cabinet pick to make clear what his economic policies are going to be.
"A finance minister is needed to explain the president's political thought," she told reporters.
On Thursday, Lula sought to downplay investor's concerns. "The market is nervous for nothing. I have never seen a market as sensitive as ours," said the president-elect, who takes office on Jan. 1.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman (Screenshot)
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Saturday the Kingdom would host the Middle East and North Africa climate week in 2023.
“We have been talking with UNFCC secretariat and we will be hosting in 2023 the MENA climate week,” the Prince said at a panel at the Saudi Green Initiative event taking place on the sidelines of the COP27 climate conference in Egypt.
The minister also said Saudi Arabia was working on establishing a regional center to advance emission reductions.
The center is set to be launched next year and will be located in Riyadh.
"We have got the approval from the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, ECSWA, and next year we will be kick starting to put that center in the middle of Riyadh," said the minister.
The Prince also revealed that the establishment of a circular carbon economy, or knowledge hub, to kick start on Jan. 1, 2023, in Riyadh.
"We are going to be launching a CCE knowledge hub, with a hope that our friends and peers can join us in sharing the experience, knowledge and to share lessons learned," he added.
The announcement was made during the Saudi Green Initiative on Saturday on the sidelines of COP27.
During the panel, the Prince urged the audience to raise awareness to "the forgotten 2.6 billion citizens" on the planet who try to make a living by burning trees and cooking by using primitive materials to feed their children.
“We should not lose sight of almost a third of the world's population, who if we were not to attend to their wellbeing, we would be actually causing a much more severe climate change issue.”
During the summit, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that the Kingdom is going to contribute $2.5 billion to the Middle East Green Initiative over the next 10 years and host its headquarters in the Kingdom.
The Saudi Green Initiative program seeks to establish a regional carbon capture and storage center, an early storm warning center and cloud seeding programs as part of its efforts to create a greener future.
On Nov. 10, the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., one of the biggest oil producers in the world, joined hands with the Saudi energy ministry to establish a carbon capture and storage hub as the Kingdom steadily progresses to achieve its net-zero ambition by 2060.
After the announcement of the new project, the energy minister said that the Kingdom could achieve its net-zero target before the stipulated target in 2060.
Senator Mark Kelly in Tucson, Ariz., on Tuesday.Credit...Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times
Democrats inched closer to holding on to the levers of power in the Senate as Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, the party’s incumbent, defeated Blake Masters, a venture capitalist endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, according to The Associated Press.
The contest was prolonged by the counting of hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots, with the process once again fomenting false claims of election fraud on the far right, which was largely rebuked in the midterm elections.
Mr. Kelly’s victory in his battleground state, one that has been a hotbed for the election denial movement, means that Democrats need to win just one of the two remaining Senate races that are undecided to keep control of the chamber.
In Nevada, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat and the first Latina elected to the Senate, was narrowing the gap with her Republican challenger, Adam Laxalt, a former state attorney general.
In Georgia, Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, and his Trump-backed challenger, Herschel Walker, the college football legend, are heading to a runoff on Dec. 6 after neither candidate received a majority of votes on Tuesday.
A 50-50 tie in the Senate would be enough for Democrats to maintain power in the chamber, where Vice President Kamala Harris holds the tiebreaking vote.
Here’s what else to know today:
The Republican candidate for Arizona governor, Kari Lake, fell further behind her Democratic opponent, Katie Hobbs, in vote totals released by Maricopa County on Friday night. But with more than 200,000 votes outstanding in Maricopa, her 31,000-vote deficit remained potentially surmountable.
In Arizona’s secretary of state race, Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, defeated Mark Finchem, according to The Associated Press. Mr. Finchem had begun casting unfounded doubts on this year’s elections as it appeared that he might lose.
In a bright spot for Republicans, the governor’s race in Nevada was called on Friday night, with the Clark County sheriff, Joseph Lombardo, ousting Gov. Steve Sisolak.
It could take weeks to settle the electoral fate of one of the most polarizing members of the House: Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a far-right provocateur known for heckling President Biden during his State of the Union speech, carrying a gun on Capitol Hill and defying mask rules.
Today, Russia is building an equal world order for the future and is fighting alone against the West, while protecting its citizens and returning its lands, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday.
"(I’d like) to reiterate that it is Russia who is protecting its citizens. And that it is this country who has been returning and has already retuned Russian lands, not the other way round. And it will continue returning its lands," he wrote on his Telegram channel, summing up the result of 2022.
"It is Russia, and not the [United] States or Great Britain or the gloomy Kiev, who is building a future world order," and "such an equal world order will be built," he added. "Russia is fighting alone against NATO and the West, so drawing any parallels with the past is either incorrect or conventional," he maintained.
According to Medvedev, Russia is doing its best to save the lives of its service people and civilians while performing combat tasks.
Commenting on the weapons being used by Russia in its special military operation in Ukraine, he said: "For reasons that are obvious to all sensible people, Russia has not yet used its entire arsenal of weapons. Nor has it hit all possible enemy targets in localities....Everything in its time.
Medvedev concluded saying that only unity, everyday hard work and the highest morale would help the country to win.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow does not consider the decision to leave Kherson humiliating.
"No, no," Peskov said, answering a relevant question.
The Kherson region is a subject of Russia, and its status cannot be changed, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"This is a subject of Russia. [The status of] this subject is legislatively fixed, defined. There are no and can be no changes," Peskov said, when asked whether Russia continued to consider the entire Kherson region as its own territory and whether it would legally define the status of the region's right-bank part.
The Russian troops have taken up pre-prepared defensive positions on the left bank of the Dnipro River after the crossing, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.
"The armed forces occupied defensive lines and positions prepared in advance in engineering terms," the ministry said.
On Wednesday, Commander of the Joint Russian Forces in Ukraine Sergey Surovikin reported to Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu that it was necessary to withdraw the troops from the right bank of the Dnepr river, including the city of Kherson, and organize a defense on its left bank. This plan was accepted by the defense minister.
In October, Russia started the evacuation of civilians from the Dnepr right bank to other regions in order to save them from constant shelling by Ukrainian forces.
The Ukrainian artillery, using NATO weaponry, targeted various infrastructure facilities, including the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station. If the dam were to be destroyed, Kherson and many nearby settlements would have been flooded, which would have led to the blockade of the Russian forces on the right bank.
Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. In response to Russia’s operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with Central African Republic (CAR) President Faustin Archange Touadera on Friday to discuss food security in Africa and Russia's readiness to supply agricultural products and fertilizers.
"In an exchange of views on the issue of food security, Vladimir Putin confirmed Russia's readiness to contribute to the provision of agricultural products and fertilizers to the African countries," the Kremlin said in a statement.
Both leaders expressed their intention to enhance political, trade and economic cooperation, including on fuel and energy. "A mutual attitude to intensify cooperation in the political and economic sectors was expressed [by the leaders]," the statement said.
In addition, Putin and his counterpart agreed on the continuation of interaction to strengthen the sovereignty, safety and stability of the CAR.
According to the Kremlin, Touadera expressed gratitude for the manifold assistance provided by Russia to his country, and confirmed the intention to take part in the second Russia-Africa summit, which has been scheduled for the summer of 2023 in St Petersburg.
Earlier, the Central African Republic - among other countries - abstained when voting on the antiRussian resolution in the UN General Assembly, which did not recognize referendums in the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Observers from the African nation were also present in September referendums in Russia.
"During the exchange of views on the food security issue [Russian President] Vladimir Putin confirmed the Russian side’s readiness to contribute to providing agricultural products and fertilizers to the countries of the African continent," the press service of the Kremlin said in a statement on Friday following a telephone conversation between the heads of state.
The sides also "expressed their mutual desire to step up bilateral cooperation in political, trade and economic areas, including the fuel-energy sector," during the telephone conversation between the two leaders on Friday, the press service added.
According to experts from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the agricultural sectors of the Central African Republic and Cameroon are currently in the most difficult situation in the region of Central Africa.
The cost of imported cereals is rapidly rising in both countries. About 30.6 mln people are currently on the brink of starvation in the Central African Republic, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a result of a lack of food, particularly cereals.
On November 10, Hungary blocked €18 billion in EU financial aid to Ukraine, triggering a wave of criticism from the bloc's leadership. Budapest said that it has had enough of joint EU borrowing initiatives. Meanwhile, protesters in Italy and other EU nations have called for arms to stop being sent to Ukraine and for lifting anti-Russia sanctions.
"I'm not surprised the Hungarians and the Italians and others will go their own way. They have every right to do that," Joe Siracusa, US politics expert and professor of history and diplomacy at Curtin University, Australia, told Sputnik.
"There’s going to be more of it. And I think every nation in Europe is going to do what they think they have to do to survive the winter and to get on with life. I mean, they're not committed to a life and death blueprint. Europe's not going down the rabbit hole because somebody wants to support (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky. And I think Zelensky really expects this to happen."
The European Commission (EC) proposed an $18 billion aid package for Ukraine on November 9 that was expected to come into effect in 2023 to help cover Ukraine's budget needs. That assistance was meant to come in the form of highly concessional loans, disbursed in regular installments.
Ukraine is running a budget deficit of up to $5 billion per month, as per the nation's President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the country's defense spending jumping five-fold to $17 billion for the first seven months of 2022.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy admitted last month that the country's real GDP fell by as much as 40% in the second quarter of 2022. The full year contraction of Ukraine's economic output is expected to reach 35%, according to the World Bank. To cap it off, Ukraine's financial officials forecast that inflation could hit 40% at the beginning of 2023, morphing into nothing short of hyperinflation. Kiev does not have money to cope with the financial crunch, but instead of joining Russia at the negotiating table, it urges its Western backers to give it more.
The EC's latest generous offer came as US officials continued chastising their European allies last month for not delivering enough to Kiev. According to the US press, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on multiple occasions called upon her international peers to ramp up both the speed and amount of money going to Ukraine. In addition to that, Yellen reportedly raised the issue at a private meeting with European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis and European Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni at the International Monetary Fund.
Eventually, Brussels agreed to fork out, but Hungary upset the EC's bid on Wednesday: the money cannot go to Kiev without the full backing of all 27 EU countries because of the bloc's budget rules. "We will certainly not support any kind of joint EU borrowing in this field," Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told a Hungarian newspaper. Budapest justifies its decision by the fact that it has already spent hundreds of millions of euros to support health, education, and cultural institutions in Ukraine. In addition to that, Hungary earlier supported the EU's joint borrowing during the COVID pandemic, "and that was more than enough," Szijjártó underscored.
Brussels, Berlin, and other European capitals subjected Budapest to criticism, while some mainstream media outlets pinned the blame on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who, according to them, has repeatedly neglected EU norms and wooed Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past.
Protest Movement Growing in EU, Sentiment Changing in US
Still, the problem is that it's not just Hungarian politicians who are opposing the bloc's continuous financial and military aid to Ukraine and sweeping sanctions on Russia at a time when inflation and recession are engulfing the Old Continent.
During the past weekend in Rome, an estimated 100,000 Italians took to the streets, calling on the government to stop sending weapons to Ukraine. The rally was reportedly organized by trade unions, numerous Catholic associations, and peace groups.
On November 9, Greek workers in Athens conducted a day-long strike backed by unions, such as the General Confederation of Greek Workers and ADEDY, protesting against soaring inflation and skyrocketing energy prices, which rose dramatically after the EU joined Washington's energy embargo against Russia.
Earlier, in September, around 70,000 people protested in Prague, Czech Republic, urging their government to maintain direct gas contracts with Russia in order to overcome the unfolding energy crisis.
The European Parliament acknowledged in October that almost 50% of Greeks and 43% of Italians said they want anti-Russia sanctions to be lifted. At the same time, a survey by Eupinions, an independent platform for European public opinion, indicated that less than 40% of Italians approve of Rome supplying weapons to Kiev.
The backlash is not limited to Europe, as US Republican lawmakers who are projected to take control of the House in January 2023 have clearly signaled their dissatisfaction with the growing burden of spending on Ukraine. On October 18, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy made it clear that the House GOP won't give a "blank check" to Kiev if Republicans win the lower chamber in November.
"Republicans will win the House of Representatives," said Siracusa. "They're in control of the purse. If you don't control the House, and all you need is 218 votes, you don't need a red wave, you don't need a 30, 40 seat majority. All you need is one vote. And they got 218. And they can make sure that the House of Representatives, where all money bills originate, will not give Ukraine another penny. Winning the House is more important than winning the Senate. It's in the House of Representatives that the Constitution guarantees that money will originate – money bills. So the House is very, very important. And Congressman Kevin McCarthy is going to be very, very important after this. But I think the mood in America has changed. There is no doubt in my mind, there is going to be a Republican victory in the House."
According to the US mainstream press, this stance is shared by many Republicans from the Make America Great Again (MAGA) camp. For their part, American Democratic progressives, who are also expected to maintain and, probably, expand their presence in the US Congress, recently voiced their opposition to Washington's military involvement in Ukraine and called on US President Joe Biden to broker peace between Kiev and Moscow. Despite their flip-flopping with a letter addressing the president on the matter, the US press admitted that anti-war sentiments persist among the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).
"I think the Republicans were hesitating before the election," Siracusa said. "There's only so much you can give to another nation before you empty out your own arsenal. And it was quite clear if there had been a big Republican victory, Marjorie Greene's comment about there would be no more money for Ukraine, in fact she had a wonderful comment, she said that as far as she is concerned and a number of Republicans are concerned, Ukraine is not an ally and Russia is not an enemy. And that's kind of where it's headed."
Moreover, a September survey by Data for Progress on behalf of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft indicated that roughly 60% of Americans would support the US engaging in diplomatic efforts "as soon as possible" to end the Ukraine standoff, even if that means Kiev having to make concessions to Russia.
West Cannot Fund Ukraine Indefinitely
One should admit that the US, UK, EU, and their close allies have committed a lot in terms of military, financial, and humanitarian aid for the Kiev regime, which says that all the money received so far has been burned through.
According to the Germany-based Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the US, EU, and several other countries committed a total of €93.73 billion ($93.62 billion) to Ukraine between January and October 2022, with the US being the most generous giver.
In addition to sending weapons and money to Kiev, the EU is also carrying the burden of accommodating Ukrainian refugees. The number of Ukrainian refugees taken in by the US is miniscule, amounting to only around 0.02% of the US population. Washington has taken fewer Ukrainian refugees (100,000) than Poland (1,365,810), Germany (1,003,029), the Czech Republic (427,696), Italy (159,968), Turkey (145,000), Spain (140,391), and the UK (122,900), according to the UN data.
The cost of housing Ukrainians in Europe is considerable, especially amid swirling inflation and the accompanying economic slowdown. According to the Kiel Institute, for some nations the cost of housing Ukrainian refugees has exceeded their overall aid to Ukraine. For instance, Estonia is spending more than 1.2% of its GDP on aid to Kiev and housing Ukrainian refugees. Latvia and Poland's cumulative aid also exceeds 1% of their GDP.
Meanwhile, Eurozone inflation hit a new historic high of 10.7% in October, according to preliminary data, with Brussels already admitting that the bloc is heading to a recession at the end of this year.
It raises the question whether European governments will halt their help to Ukraine, as Biden's State Department is continuing to pressure them into exhaustive spending regardless of the bloc's economic difficulties. Speaking to a US broadcaster in the aftermath of Election Day, Zelensky warned against reducing Washington's aid to Kiev, insisting that it's the only way to keep Europeans sending money to Ukraine. Still, it's unclear where exactly the money goes, with millions of dollars and euros vanishing in the fog of the conflict.
Siracusa does not rule out that the US will be the first to suspend the money flow to Kiev, which even the Biden administration does not consider grateful enough.
Siracusa does not rule out that the US will be the first to suspend the money flow to Kiev, which even the Biden administration does not consider grateful enough.
"I think at the end of the day, Americans will call a halt to it," said Siracusa. "And I think a number of Ukrainians will exhibit some resentment to the aid given to them, because they'll say it wasn't enough. I think Zelensky wanted the Americans to pick up their monthly public service and army salaries. He wanted $5 billion from the American people, heard him say it, to keep Ukraine going. What country is going to pay for soldiers and public servants endlessly? The idea of the United States Treasury printing money, $5 billion a month, to pay for Ukrainian civil service or public service, that's nuts, that's unrealistic thinking."
"The Republicans want to make it very clear, they want to get this problem settled, get on to other important issues like climate change and arms control and the rest of it. I think there are people in the American Congress right now who want to reset it. They want to recalibrate," the professor concluded.
