[ad_1]
Today, the administration of US President Joe Biden has a deadline to publish a list of companies that are violating US laws to stop construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has begun negotiations with Berlin over the situation around the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, The Wall Street Journal reported on February 16, citing a senior German official.
According to the interlocutor of the newspaper, the talks are discussing “threats of sanctions against companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2”, in his opinion, violate US laws aimed at stopping the construction of the pipeline, and these companies could potentially fall under US sanctions.
The Biden administration could waive sanctions under the national interest clause to maintain relations with Germany, a major European ally, and give Russia a geopolitical victory, the newspaper writes.
Representatives of the White House National Security Council met to discuss the pipeline, including Germany’s willingness to impose a moratorium on the project, the newspaper’s interlocutors briefed on the discussion said.
A spokesman for the US State Department said the Biden administration knew about the resumption of construction on Nord Stream 2 and would “monitor activities to complete or certify the pipeline and, if such actions are taken, will decide sanctions “.
Representative pipeline operator – company Nord Stream 2 AG said that the US sanctions against companies doing legitimate business in the European Union in the project “Nord Stream – 2“, contradict international law and violate Europe’s energy sovereignty.
Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline that is supposed to connect Russia with Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The length of the route is more than 1200 km, the capacity of the new gas pipeline will be 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year. It was reported that the cost of the project is € 9.9 billion, it is financed by the Russian “Gazprom” and five European companies: Anglo-Dutch Shell, German Wintershall and Uniper, French Engie and Austrian OMV.
Authorities in the United States, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia consider Nord Stream 2 a threat to Europe’s energy security.
Construction of the gas pipeline began in 2018. In December 2019, construction froze when the United States imposed sanctions on European contractors involved in the project. At that time, 93% of the pipeline had been completed, Nord Stream 2 AG reported.
A year later, on December 11, 2020, construction resumed. Until construction of two pipeline lines is completed, a total of 160 kilometers remain “with a little”, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on December 17. In February 2021, Gazprom announced that it intends to order Nord Stream 2 this year.
On January 19, 2021, the US Department of the Treasury introduced new sanctions against companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. In particular, the sanctions affected the Russian ship Fortuna and its owner, the company KVT- RUS, as well as the Rustanker company, the Maxim Gorky tanker and the Sierra tanker for the transportation of crude. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry welcomed this decision and the Russian “Gazprom” allowed for the first time the possibility of suspending the implementation or canceling the project altogether.
However, on 24 January it emerged that the Russian pipe laying vessel Fortuna had resumed construction of the Nord Stream 2 in Danish waters. In 2020, the pipelayer laid 2.6 km of pipes in German waters, about 120 km left unfinished in Danish waters and about 28 km in German waters.
The Handelsblatt newspaper wrote on February 1 that Biden could lift sanctions against Nord Stream 2 if he gets assurances that Russia will not use the pipeline against Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. The State Department denied this information, stating that they would interfere with the construction of Nord Stream 2. Earlier, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden considered the pipeline “a bad deal for Europe.”
US Senator Jane Shaheen and Republican Senator James Risch sent a letter to the Biden administration in support of the full implementation of the legislation related to the Nord Stream 2 gas transmission project, “which aims to end the project“.
[ad_2]
