Ottawa
The authorities of the Canadian province of Alberta offered on Monday to supply oil to the United Stated amid talks of suspending the Russian oil export by the US following military operation in Ukraine.
On Sunday, US State Secretary Antony Blinken said that the US and the European Union were exploring the possibility of banning the import of Russian oil and energy products.
“US now looking to replace Russian barrels with Venezuelan? You can’t make this stuff up – desperate times require desperate measures. A reminder of the folly of energy policy over the past decade. Canada, with the 3rd largest reserves, could have supplied the US and the world,” Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage wrote on Twitter.
Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney also accused Iran and Venezuela of violating human rights, amid reports that the US may lift sanctions on oil “from the Iranian and Venezuelan dictatorships.” According to him, the US and Canada should also discuss the lifting of the ban on the Canadian pipeline Keystone XL.
“Alberta would be delighted to welcome such a visit from [US] President Joe Biden. We could discuss how to ship nearly 1 million barrels of day of responsibly produced energy every day from the USA’s closest friend and ally! All it would take is his approval for Keystone XL. Easy,” Kenney wrote on Twitter.
On February 24, Russia began a special operation to demilitarize and “denazify” Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics in countering the aggression of Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.
