Natural State News

As tensions heighten between the U.S. and Russia, President Joe Biden faces enormous pressure from the House of Representatives to implement U.S. sanction powers against the Russian natural gas pipeline project in Europe called Nord Stream 2. 

The pipeline would run supply lines through Ukraine and transport through Russia’s natural gas to Germany, who is a U.S. ally. This would undermine Ukraine while simultaneously giving power to Russia’s grip on the European energy market. Although Biden is against the pipeline, it was left out of several recent sanction and punitive measures against Moscow. 

“Missing in the recently announced economic sanctions against Russia was any action against Russia’s massive Nord Stream 2 Pipeline – Putin’s pipeline – that would supply Russian natural gas to Germany,” Sen. Dan Sullivan said in a Facebook post. “This makes no strategic sense given that the Biden administration is cancelling our pipelines and putting hard-working American’s out of work, while all but endorsing this Putin’s pipeline.”

The sanctions against the project under the Biden administration are very aggressive to demolish the pipeline but are still being considered and have yet to be imposed, based on current and formal State Department officials.

Targeting the Russian based firm behind the project, the sanctions and measures implement a heightened focus on Nord Stream 2 AG, and Chief Executive Officer Matthias Warnig, who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also targets other corporations and ships that are intertwined in the project. 

“Nord Stream 2 is a complicated issue affecting our allies in Europe,” Biden said, told by The Wall Street Journal. “I’ve been opposed to Nord Stream 2 for a long time, but that still is an issue that is in play.”

U.S. official are hopeful that a compromise will be established with the Germans.