The United States is supporting Canada’s decision to allow a Canadian company to return turbines from a Russian pipeline that supplies natural gas to Germany, saying in the short term it was the right move, as European countries continue working towards reducing their “collective dependence” on Russian energy.
In a U.S. State Department statement issued Monday, department spokesperson Ned Price said work is ongoing to further target and limit Russia’s ability to use energy-derived revenue in its ongoing attacks on Ukraine, while also seeking to limit the impact of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on the global energy market.
“The United States is united with our Allies and partners in our commitment to promoting European energy security, reducing our collective dependence on Russian energy, and maintaining pressure on the Kremlin,” the statement said. “We support the Canadian government’s decision.”
On Saturday, Canada announced it had decided to grant a “time-limited and revocable permit” to allow Siemens Canada to return Nord Stream 1 turbines to Germany from Montreal where they had been sent for repairs.
The equipment had been held up in Canada after the federal government imposed sanctions on Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom. The gas giant claimed it needed the turbines in order to continue supplying Germany, after already considerably decreasing the gas flow through the pipeline.
German Vice Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck recently told Bloomberg that there was concern within Germany that if the turbines were not returned ahead of scheduled maintenance, that Russia could cite that as a reason to further cut off its natural gas supply to the country, leaving Germany without a sufficient reserve.
On Monday, Germany’s Ambassador to Canada Sabine Sparwasser said that she was “very grateful to the Canadian government,” and that Germany will continue to support Ukraine “on all levels.”
“We know it was not easy. But it is crucial to help Canada’s European Allies to steadily build out our independence from Russian Energy,” she tweeted.
Despite the backing of the Americans, Canada’s decision has sparked strong criticism from Ukraine and its supporters, who are calling on Canada to think again, suggesting the federal government’s decision has given Russia leverage that they will continue to try to exploit when it comes to the energy sector.
“What Russia now knows is that Canada and Germany blinked,” said Ukrainian Canadian Congress President Alexandra Chyczij.
‘DANGEROUS PRECEDENT’: MPS
Domestically, the federal opposition parties have also come out hard against the move.
On Monday, NDP MP and foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson issued a scathing statement calling for Canada to reverse the “shocking and disappointing” decision.
“This decision goes against the sanctions Canada imposed on Russia in response to the illegal invasion and genocide in Ukraine. Canadians expect their government to show real solidarity with Ukraine but the Liberal government’s decision is an affront to Ukrainians,” McPherson said.
“How will Canada have any legitimacy in asking other countries to hold Russia accountable for its crimes when we do not adhere to our own sanctions?”
Key members of the federal Conservative caucus have also decried the decision, saying in a statement on Sunday that in circumventing their own sanctions, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government “sets a dangerous precedent of folding to Putin’s blackmail of Europe, and will negatively impact Canada’s standing on the world stage.”
There’s now some pressure building for the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee to hold a special summer meeting to discuss the decision and examine the efficacy of the federal sanction regime.
On Saturday, in a statement about the decision, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said that allied countries “cannot allow” Putin’s attempts to use European energy security to sow division amongst allies to be successful.
“Canada stands with Ukraine against the unprovoked, brutal invasion by Russia and we will continue to work in coordination with allies and partners to impose severe costs on the Russian regime,” Wilkinson said.
Alongside the decision to returning the key pieces of pipeline infrastructure, the federal government announced the imposition of a new round of sanctions targeting Russia’s oil and gas sector.
“We will not stop imposing these severe costs on the Putin regime while their unjustifiable invasion is ongoing. We will continue to support our European friends and allies as they work to end dependency on Russian gas imports as quickly as possible by working to help stabilize emergency markets and to develop long-term and sustainable solutions on energy supplies,” the minister said in his statement.
With a report from CTV National News’ Ottawa Bureau Chief Joyce Napier
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.
Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.
Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.
Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.
Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.
The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
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DEVILS 3 OILERS 0
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.
Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.
