In a bid to stop Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Republicans in the U.S. Congress are ramping up pressure on the Biden administration.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz put a hold on March 5 on the final confirmation of President Joe Biden’s Central Intelligence Agency director nominee William Burns and asked Biden to act swiftly against the controversial pipeline, according to Bloomberg.
Cruz asked the White House to apply recently authorized sanctions against companies building the pipeline from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
“I’ll release my hold when the Biden admin meets its legal obligation to report and sanction the ships and companies building Putin’s pipeline,” Cruz wrote on Twitter the same day.
Biden, who publicly called the pipeline a “bad deal for Europe,” has so far resisted imposing new sanctions on entities involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2, even though U.S. lawmakers argued it would be the most effective way to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Time is running out for the Biden administration, as the pipeline is more than 90 percent complete and proceeding quickly.
On March 4, the Danish Maritime Authority revealed that a new Russian pipelaying vessel would soon join the project. While it has been delayed since 2019, the pipeline could be operational by September.
Around 120 kilometers of the pipeline remains to be laid in Danish waters as well as 30 kilometers in German waters according to Russia’s state-owned giant Gazprom, which is behind the project.
If completed, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine when transporting gas to European countries through Germany.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Nord Stream 2 “a bad project” too, not only for Ukraine but also Europe, during an interview with French outlet France24 on March 5.
Kuleba added that Ukraine’s government approves of Biden’s opposition to the project but expected more specific actions.
“We should give the administration more time to take specific actions to make an impact on the construction of the pipeline,” Kuleba said.
The unfinished $11 billion construction project launched in 2015 has become one of the most hotly disputed issues between the United States and Germany since the U.S. started implementing sanctions against companies involved in its construction in December 2019.
The U.S. and several EU members argue that the project will increase Europe’s dependence on Russian gas. However, Germany supports the project, which could make it Europe’s main gas supplier.
Russia and Ukraine signed a five-year agreement until 2024 that guarantees Russia will transport no less than 40 billion cubic meters through Ukraine each year and must pay Ukraine at least $7.2 billion over the course of the contract.
However, if Nord Stream 2 is completed, it will double the amount of Russian natural gas exported to Germany to an annual 110 billion cubic meters and will allow Russia to bypass Ukraine entirely, depriving the country of at least $1.5 billion per year.
Despite growing opposition from other EU members and the U.S. over Russia’s unlawful imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the expulsion of three European diplomats, the leaders of France and Germany vowed on Feb. 5 to maintain diplomatic ties with Moscow.
Many German officials support Nord Stream 2, saying it is just a commercial project that has nothing to do with Russia’s human rights violations.
“Business relationships and business projects that have existed for decades are one thing and serious human rights violations and our reactions to them are another,” Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told German daily Bild Am Sontag on Feb. 7.
