
Ernst calls on Biden to be 'very clear and very strong' in call with Putin as US concerns grow over Russian military activity near Ukraine
CNN
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst on Sunday urged President Joe Biden to be "very clear and very strong" in his upcoming call with Russian President Vladimir Putin as US officials grow increasingly concerned about a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
"I do think that President Biden needs to be very clear and very strong in his message to Vladimir Putin," the Iowa Republican told Fox News Sunday. "He needs to say to Vladimir Putin that we are no longer going to allow you to continue with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and we need you to know and understand that we will defend Ukraine and we will provide them assistance. He needs to make that very clear," Ernst said, referring to the controversial new pipeline built to move natural gas from Russia to Germany.
A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Ernst stressed the need for Biden to push back against what she called "a very aggressive action" by Russia after reports of an increased Russian military presence at the Russia-Ukraine border suggested Russia could launch a military attack on Ukraine early next year.

Hundreds of Border Patrol officers are mobilizing to bolster the president’s crackdown on immigration in snowy Minneapolis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday, as tensions between federal law enforcement and local counterparts flare after an ICE-involved shooting last week left a mother of three dead.

Nationwide outcry over the killing of a Minneapolis woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent spilled into the streets of cities across the US on Saturday, with protesters demanding the removal of federal immigration authorities from their communities and justice for the slain Renee Good.

Since early December the US Coast Guard and other military branches have boarded and taken control of five oil ships that had previously been sanctioned, all either accused of being in the process of transporting Venezuelan oil or on their way to take on oil that has been subject to US sanctions since President Donald Trump began a pressure campaign against the leadership of the country during his first term.










