The US requires companies to stop working on the Nord Stream 2 project / Article / LSM.lv

United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Thursday called on all companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to immediately suspend their participation in the project, otherwise they will face US sanctions.

The administration of US President Joe Biden is committed to complying with a law passed by Congress in 2019, which was extended in 2020 and provides for sanctions, the US Secretary of State said in a statement.

“Nord Stream 2 is a bad deal for Germany, Ukraine and our allies and partners in Central and Eastern Europe,” said Blinken, reiterating the long-standing US opposition to the $ 11 billion project.

He criticized Nord Stream 2 as “a Russian geopolitical project designed to divide Europe and weaken Europe’s energy security”.

The State Department is monitoring the efforts to complete the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and is evaluating the information regarding the organizations involved.

The United States “warns all organizations involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline of the risk of US sanctions and that they must immediately suspend work on the pipeline,” Blinken warned.

ASV and several European Union (EU) member states, including the Baltic states and Poland, have sharply criticized the construction of the pipeline, which increases Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas supplies and Moscow wants to use it as a political tool.

CONTEXT:

U.S. Democrat and Republican lawmakers have agreed on strengthening sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 project, but the US will first consult with European partners before defining them.

The bill also stipulates that Nord Stream 2 will not be sanctioned against the governments of Germany or any other European Union (EU) country, Switzerland, Norway, the United Kingdom and the EU itself.

The US believes the pipeline will increase the EU’s dependence on Russian gas supplies, providing Moscow with political leverage as well as a tool for potential power outages.

Baltic officials have also been critical of Nord Stream 2, stressing that it is a geopolitical project and runs counter to the objectives of the European Energy Union.

The 1,230-kilometer pipeline is expected to supply up to 55 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas to Germany each year.

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