US President Joe Biden. File photoWASHINGTON, Jan 14Republican American Senator Ted Cruz urged US President Joe Biden to listen to the opinion of the upper house of Congress, where the majority, although not enough, supported a bill to immediately tighten sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Cruz's initiative, which was opposed by the White House, scored 55 Of the required 60 votes, 43 senators voted against. On Thursday, the press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, noted that Nord Stream 2 is a commercial project, and linking it to security is “absurd”, once again confirming that this is an attempt at unfair competition. The Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that Nord Stream 2, which is actively opposed by the United States and Ukraine, is commercial, beneficial to Europe and urged to stop mentioning it in the context of any politicization.
Biden's «collusion» with Russia on Nord Stream 2 was revealed in Ukraine
"Despite fierce lobbying from the White House, a large bipartisan majority of senators again voted in favor of immediate sanctions against the Putin pipeline. President Biden should listen to the Senate, people and government of Ukraine and reconsider his disastrous decision to grant congressional sanctions relief to Russia,” Cruz tweeted.
The bill directed the president, within 15 days of passage, to impose sanctions against «any official of the entity established for or responsible for the planning, construction or operation» of the pipeline, as well as such entity itself. Cruz tried to achieve the cancellation of the exemption from American restrictions of the project operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, and its executive director Mattias Warnig. The sanctions included the blocking of assets in American jurisdiction and a ban on entry into the United States. The gas pipeline with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year has already been stretched along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to Germany, but its certification by German and European authorities has been suspended under pressure from the United States, who want to use Nord Stream 2 «as a lever of pressure on Russia in the aggravated situation around Ukraine. Opponents of Cruz's initiative, including the White House, argued that it would weaken the unity of Western allies at a time of crisis in Europe. The head of the international committee of the Senate, Democrat Robert Menendez, presented a draft of possible unprecedented sanctions against Russia the day before. Along with measures against key sectors of the Russian economy, public debt, top officials of the country, it included restrictions on Nord Stream 2. Breath blow.» US senator accuses US of betraying Germany