U.S. Senators urge Biden to accelerate sanctions against Nord Stream 2
U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (New Jersey) and Jeanne Shaheen (from New Hampshire) sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for accelerated imposition of new sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
"This pipeline must be stopped, and your leadership is required towards that end. We urge that the effort to build strong Nord Stream 2 sanctions packages be accelerated to meet the urgency of the moment," the Senators said in a letter.
On March 18, the U.S. State Department warned the participants of the Nord Stream 2 project not to continue construction work, threatening them with sanctions. As Bloomberg reported on the same day, citing sources, the new sanctions of the U.S. administration may affect Nord Stream 2 AG, the subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom, which is the operator of construction.
Blinken, who is on a visit to Brussels, met with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Tuesday.
" I made clear that firms engaged in pipeline construction risk U.S. sanctions. The pipeline divides Europe, it exposes Ukraine and central Europe to Russian manipulation and coercion, it goes against Europe’s own stated energy goals,” said Blinken after the meeting with Maas.
" This is a bad deal that we oppose and have always opposed it. That was really what he laid out in what was a relatively short meeting," the State Department official said.