U.S. Senators Want Biden to Speed Sanctions Over Nord Stream 2 Pipeline
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Two senior U.S. Senate Democrats urged President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday to make a full diplomatic push to stop the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Europe, increasing pressure on the issue from members of his party.
Senators Bob Menendez, the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Jeanne Shaheen, who chairs the panel's Europe subcommittee, sent a letter asking Secretary of State Antony Blinken to implement sanctions allowed under existing laws.
"This pipeline must be stopped and your leadership is required towards that end," they wrote.
"We do... urge that the effort to build strong Nord Stream 2 sanctions packages be accelerated to meet the urgency of the moment," they said, noting that the pipeline will be completed this year if construction continues unimpeded.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nord Stream 2, led by Russia state energy company Gazprom with its Western partners, would double the capacity of an existing link to take Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
The pipeline would bypass Ukraine, likely depriving it of lucrative transit revenues and potentially undermine its efforts against Russian aggression.
U.S. companies also want to sell Europe liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative to Russian gas, which is usually cheaper.
Close ally Germany needs gas as it weans itself off nuclear and coal.
Blinken said last week that any entities involved with the project "should immediately abandon work." He will soon meet his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, to discuss the project.
U.S. lawmakers criticized the State Department last month for not sanctioning new companies building the project when it issued a report to Congress. The next report is due in mid May, though any new sanctions could come ahead of it.
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