Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley argued on Wednesday that President Biden’s first week in office was “good” for Russia.
‘I can tell you [ Russian President Vladimir] Putin must be fairly ecstatic at the moment, ‘Haley told America’s Newsroom on Wednesday, referring to Biden’s energy actions, which include halting the Keystone XL oil pipeline project.
Biden’s government has also temporarily suspended oil and gas permitting federal lands and waters in a series of executive orders aimed at suppressing the U.S. fossil fuel industry and combating climate change, Reuters reports.
‘One of the things that bothered him [Putin] most was how energy-independent we became, ”Haley explained.
Haley also pointed out that Biden on Thursday proposed extending the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the two countries by five years, saying it was “something that gives Russia a lot of advantage.” The New START Treaty would expire on February 5th.
COMMANDMENT PROPOSAL FOR EXTENSION OF NUCLEAR WEAPON TREATY WITH RUSSIA FOR 5 YEARS
The treaty, signed in 2010 by President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers and aims to verify comprehensive on-site inspections to comply.
Russia has long proposed expanding the treaty without any conditions or changes, but President Trump’s government waited until last year to begin talks and made the expansion dependent on a set of demands. The discussions stalled, and months of negotiations could not limit the differences.
On Friday, the Kremlin welcomed Biden’s proposal. Putin’s spokesman said Russia was in favor of renewing the treaty and was waiting to see the details.
“This is a good first week for Russia,” Hayley said.
Haley also argued Wednesday that President Biden is “more interested in stopping everything President Trump has done” instead of looking forward to it.
The former governor of South Carolina then put a series of questions to Biden and asked why he did not ‘sit down and talk to the governors’ before stopping the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and banning hydrofracking.
“Why not use leverage if Iran produces nuclear weapons? Why not use these sanctions as leverage before just jumping back into the Iran deal?” she asked further.
“Why don’t you call them out with China on the human rights issues they have instead of jumping back into the Human Rights Council?”
Haley referred to the possible move by President Biden to rejoin the controversial UN Human Rights Council.
Haley was part of the Trump administration in 2018 when he removed the US from the Human Rights Council. Announcing the decision, she called the council “a protector of human rights violators and a pit of political prejudice.”
Critics, of whom Haley was perhaps best known, pointed to the council’s membership, which currently includes countries such as Cuba, China and Russia – all of which were elected in 2020.
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“It’s about strategy,” Haley said Wednesday. “It’s about being smart, and what Biden is showing is that he’s more interested in reversing everything President Trump has done than in being strategic in the way we keep America strong going forward.”
Fox News’s Caitlin McFall, Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.