US Energy Secretary promises sanctions on Nord Stream 2
On Tuesday, May 21, during a visit to Ukraine, US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry assured Kyiv that US authorities intend to prevent the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline by imposing sanctions.
According to Perry, the law imposing penalties on companies participating in the project will be adopted “in the near future”. The secretary noted that, in the USA, many oppose building the gas pipeline from Russia to Germany and stressed that the sanctions bill would pass in Congress and be signed by the head of the White House Donald Trump.
Earlier it was reported that the US Senate had prepared sanctions against European vessels laying down the pipeline. These vessels use "technological know-how that Western energy companies are privy to, but not Russian ones," the senators explained. According to the bill, individuals who continue to sell or lease vessels used to construct the Nord Stream - 2 are subject to a ban on entry to the United States, while their assets in the United States would be frozen. The document also provides for a number of restrictions against individuals providing financial, technical or insurance support to those vessels.