(RepublicanInformer.com)- Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to President Joe Biden, said on Thursday that American taxpayers are footing the bill for maintaining Russian superyachts that have been taken from oligarchs as part of economic sanctions against Russia.
According to reports, when discussing the Biden administration’s foreign policy challenges, Sullivan was overheard at a seminar organized by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). The maintenance of boats taken from Russian billionaires in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s close circle is one of the “crazy” aspects of sanctions against Russia, Sullivan remarked on a hot mic.
Sullivan was overheard stating that the most absurd thing is that the US must pay for maintenance when we seize a yacht. The federal government pays for upkeep under the forfeiture rubric. Some people are essentially being paid by the US government to maintain Russian superyachts.
The interview with Sullivan’s footage on YouTube has now been set to “private” by CNAS.
Investigative reports show the United States and several of its allies have started taking the assets of certain Russian billionaires located outside Russia, including their yachts. The action is a component of a sanctions program designed to reduce domestic support for Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.
Some have criticized Biden for allocating excessive resources to the conflict in Ukraine. He just gave the go-ahead to spend an extra $40 billion to support Ukraine’s conflict with Russia.
According to the latest reports, Ukraine has reduced the confidential briefings it provides to the Biden Administration. Ukrainian authorities confessed to withholding information from the United States, keeping Washington in the dark about Ukraine’s future intentions for fighting Russia.
When contacted for comment, a State Department spokeswoman said that the United States would not try to influence Ukraine’s security-related decisions or define its success.
During an interview with the NYT, A former senior member of the US intelligence wondered if anyone could tell us with certainty how many troops and how much equipment Ukraine has lost. What accurate information do we have regarding Ukraine’s situation?
A lot of us are asking the same questions.