“As the president said, Nord Stream 2 is bad business – for Germany, for Ukraine and for our Central and Eastern European allies and partners,” Blinken said in a statement on Thursday. “THE [State] The Department reiterates its warning that any entity involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is at risk of US sanctions and should immediately abandon work on the pipeline. “
Blinken added that the Biden government “is committed to complying” with legislation promoted by Cruz and legislators from both parties that impose mandatory sanctions.
“I welcome today’s statement by Secretary Blinken, which reinforces to the international community that there is a bicameral, bipartisan and government-wide commitment in the United States to prevent Putin’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline,” said Cruz. “The entities that are involved in the work on Nord Stream 2 today understand that they will face devastating sanctions, unless the work is stopped immediately.”
Cruz said he will maintain his control over Biden’s candidate for deputy secretary of state, Wendy Sherman, “until the full sanctions ordered by Congress are in fact imposed against ships and companies essential to the completion of the pipeline.” Sherman drew the Republicans’ contempt for his role in drafting the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran.
POLITICO reported last week that the Biden government was preparing to impose sanctions on entities that helped build the pipeline, which is at least 90% complete. The pipeline has been a source of tension between the US and Germany, with Berlin pushing for its completion and Washington insisting that the pipeline would expand the geopolitical reach of Russian President Vladimir Putin and undermine Europe’s energy security.
Nord Stream 2 has put the Biden government in a difficult position, however, as it seeks to repair the U.S. relationship with Germany, which suffered from Donald Trump. But lawmakers and the White House are vigorously opposed to the pipeline, and the Capitol’s bipartisan pressure has increased in recent weeks.