Sen Gini Shaheen (DNH), a member of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committee, said on Thursday that time was running out to do something before the pipeline was completed. “And I think we need to act very quickly.”
Sen. when the pressure campaign escalated on Friday. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) blocked President Joe Biden’s CIA Director William Burns’ final confirmation, delaying a quick vote, to force the Biden administration to impose additional sanctions.
“I will release my hold when I fulfill Biden Admin Putin’s legal obligation to report and approve ships and companies building the pipeline.” Wrote on Twitter Friday.
Dynamic builds the White House on the hill. An important goal of the new administration is to demonstrate a united front with Germany and the rest of Europe against Russian aggression. But Germany is keen to see the pipeline completed, as it offers a cheaper alternative to natural gas, meaning the U.S. could go ahead with the sanctions sought by Congress. One can be angry at a key partner.
“After four years of abuse by the previous administration, we want to re-establish our relations with Germany,” a senior administration official said. “But Congress is not emerging. We are between a rocky and hard place. ”
“Bad deal for Europe”
Biden himself has publicly called the pipeline a “bad deal for Europe”, and the ban on the project has continued its work through the package intergenerational process, even if it is not as fast as some legislators want. Stopping Nord Stream 2 has long been a bilateral priority, with members of Congress arguing that the completion of the pipeline would strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putin at the expense of Ukraine and other US allies.
Former officials said that in its final days, the Trump administration is considering going as far as approving German companies for their role in the project. Those companies include Matthew Warnig, German CEO of Nord Stream, and German ship Krebs Geo. But in the end they never did, instead only allowing the Russian pipe-laying ship Fortuna and its owner KVT-Rus.
The State Department endorsed the position in a report to Congress last month, but it did not move forward – angering both Democratic and Republican legislators who say the administration is obliged by law to identify and approve any and all entities involved in the construction of the pipeline. Includes at least seven Russian ships.
Shaheen and Cruz co-provided an annual defense bill that imposed restrictions on those involved in the construction of the pipeline. Shahi also joined Idaho Sen. Jim Rish, a top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, last month to press Biden to fully implement the provision.
Employees of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee were briefed by the State Department last week on the administration’s position on Nord Flow 2 and will return next week, according to a Senate aide. But employees said they learned nothing new during the briefing, and senators themselves said they mostly stay away from the loop.
You don’t like it when Germans get angry
Multiple current and former officials said the issue was at the center of how the pipeline could be stopped without souring relations with Germany. After four years of neglect and ridicule by former President Donald Trump’s administration, Secretary of State Blinken is trying to rebuild Washington’s relationship with Berlin. Under Trump, the relationship deteriorated to the point that German Chancellor Angela Merkel famously said in 2018 that Europe was now the US. Will not be able to trust and “must take his goal into his own hands.”
Officials said Amanda Slot, Europe director of the National Security Council, also issued an internal warning against moving too quickly on additional Nord Stream sanctions, as the administration works to improve U.S. relations with Germany.
A former national security official close to the White House captured the common sentiment: “Many within the administration feel that the Germans have been treated horribly, and they want to get that relationship back on its feet.”
Critics should ask why the Trump administration did more to stop the pipeline during its four years in power, a senior administration official noted.
The official said the pipeline is 95% complete and the Trump administration failed to do anything about it when the opportunity arose. “Now the ex-officers who have let it come on their watch are somehow insisting that it is our fault. The same ex-officers are spreading conspiracy theories about secret discussions. The only discussion of the Biden administration with the Germans on Nord Stream 2 is our The protest has to be clarified. “
Until the end of January, after talking to Blinken, German Foreign Minister Heiko Massey said his position was the same. But he said relations with the US seem to be improving already. “I should be accustomed to the fact that I speak on the phone with my American colleagues and we agree on almost all issues,” he told Reuters. “This has not happened in the past.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) Said that while he has been a “supporter” of the sanctions effort, he is “very upset that the United States and Europe are going their separate ways.”
“I think the ability of the US and Europe to cooperate on China policy is more important than our policy on Nord Stream 2,” said Murphy, a top member of the Foreign Relations Committee. “And so we have found a way to get back on the same page with Europe, and I hope that the Biden administration will be able to build a more functional relationship with Europe on energy issues than Trian.”
Playing in the hands of Russia
But other current and former officials say the risks of letting the pipeline be completed, and the benefits it could give Russia over Europe and NATO, outweigh the consequences of Berlin’s anger in the short term. And they argue that if Germany is willing to go ahead with the project as Russia has shown aggression in eastern Ukraine, there is not much evidence that Germany will honor its commitment to maintain some gas transport through Ukraine even after the pipeline is completed.
Nord Flow 2 will allow Russia to bypass Ukraine in transporting Russian gas to the European Union via the Baltic Sea. Its construction would deprive Kiev of a crucial income – which Ukrainian officials say is exactly the point.
“The main impetus for Russia is only to punish Ukraine,” Ukrainian Finance Minister, Economy, Trade and Agriculture, Taras Kachka, told Politico last month. “Ukraine strongly opposes the creation of the Nord Stream 2 and this is yet another Russian attempt to use energy as a tool of political pressure and blackmailing.”
The Biden administration imposed new sanctions on Russian officials earlier this week in response to the poisoning and imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and is expected to impose more fines for Russia’s criminal activities around the world next week. But Biden has so far resisted going further than his predecessor in imposing new sanctions on entities involved in the construction of the Nord Stream, which current and former officials argue is one of the most effective ways to curb Putin’s misconduct.
Ryan Tully, who serves as Trump’s senior director of European and Russian affairs at the NSC, said, “Putting a stake in Nord Stream 2 could drain billions from Putin’s coffins.”
Sen. In a letter to Biden on Wednesday, John Baraso (R-Vio.), A group of 40 Republican senators, said he was “deeply concerned” about the administration’s decision to impose sanctions on companies involved in the Nord Stream II pipeline.
Rish said he spoke to a State Department official about Nord Stream 2 on Thursday but was disappointed.
“I don’t want to go further than that,” he told Politico. A spokesman for Risk later said: “There is no new information about this [Nord Stream 2] Brought to the fore. “
