【Text by Observers Net, Liu Bai】On the evening of November 24, four U.S. Democratic senators once again made remarks about Sino-Russian energy cooperation.

Their statements are still the same old story. They accused the Trump administration of not effectively enforcing sanctions on the export of Arctic LNG 2, allowing China to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) at discounted prices, thereby funding Russia's "war machine."

According to Reuters, in September, lawmakers including Senator Elizabeth Warren had urged the Trump administration to resume targeted sanctions on Russian energy supplies, stating that the U.S. allowing China to purchase discounted LNG from the Arctic LNG 2 project amounted to granting China a "special exemption."

The Trump administration has already imposed its first direct sanctions on two major Russian oil and gas giants, Lukoil and Rosneft, and threatened further sanctions against more Russian entities.

However, since August, the operator of the Arctic LNG 2 project, Novatek, has sold about 14 batches of LNG, with Chinese buyers receiving price discounts of approximately 30% to 40%.

"This is the latest example of Donald Trump failing to pressure Putin and bring Russia back to the negotiating table," Warren said in a statement, clearly agitated.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of the U.S. Democratic Party

She also claimed that the Arctic LNG 2 has brought billions of dollars in energy revenue flows for Russia's "war machine," while the Biden administration's targeted sanctions had previously interrupted this revenue source.

The U.S. Department of State previously responded to Warren and other senators, stating that it would "seriously consider imposing sanctions on the Arctic LNG 2 project based on the information provided."

As the U.S., EU, and Ukraine held talks in Geneva on the 23rd, U.S.-Ukrainian officials said they had drafted a "more refined peace framework," but did not reveal specific details.

A White House official stated that Trump hopes to end the killing and expects a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. "President Trump believes that if both sides show flexibility, there is an opportunity to end this senseless war," he said.

This has raised concerns among Democratic legislators. They claimed that Congress must require a review of any U.S. sanctions against Russia that are to be lifted due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, "rather than letting Trump lose our remaining key leverage."

Notably, despite continuous provocations by U.S. politicians over energy cooperation, Russia remained China's largest crude oil supplier this year. In September, China imported 8.287 million tons of crude oil from Russia, an increase of 4.3% compared to the previous month, with an import value of 4.066 billion U.S. dollars. With the progress of cross-border pipeline projects between China and Russia, their cooperation continues to deepen, and China's total LNG imports from Russia in September increased slightly by 1.9% year-on-year.

Analysts believe these data indicate that despite geopolitical tensions, China is willing to maintain trade ties with Russia.

China has repeatedly expressed its position on purchasing Russian energy. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian emphasized that normal economic and trade and energy cooperation between China and countries including Russia is legitimate and legal. The U.S. approach is a typical case of unilateral bullying and economic coercion, seriously undermining international trade and economic rules and threatening the safety and stability of global industrial and supply chains.

"We firmly oppose the U.S. constantly talking about China, and we firmly oppose the U.S. arbitrarily imposing illegal unilateral sanctions and extraterritorial jurisdiction on China. If China's legitimate rights and interests are harmed, China will resolutely counteract and firmly safeguard its sovereignty, development, and security interests."

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