Dispute over Russian pipeline exams Biden’s Europe outreach – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

WASHINGTON – (AP) – Pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden to take action to prevent the completion of a Russian gas pipeline to Europe that many fear will give the Kremlin significant leverage over US partners and allies. However, doing so could create a huge gap in transatlantic relations, particularly with Germany, at a time when Biden has made restoring good relations with Europe a priority.

With the Nord Stream 2 pipeline nearing completion, US lawmakers from both parties increased demands on a reluctant White House to impose new sanctions on Russian and European companies to halt the project. The prospects for this seem slim, however: Germany continues to support the project as it increases natural gas consumption, and the pipeline is around 95% complete.

Biden said he was rejecting the pipeline, owned by Russian state-owned company Gazprom, with investments from several European companies. He was keen to portray himself as tough on Russian President Vladimir Putin while he is a strong advocate of Eastern European countries like Poland and Ukraine, which are absolutely against as they bypass both of them.

Potentially more significant to the US would be that the Russia-to-Germany pipeline would increase Western Europe’s already heavy reliance on Russian energy, while US-Russia tensions mount on a number of issues including Ukraine, electoral disruption, cyber -Intrusions and the crackdown on opposition figure Alexei Navalny and his supporters.

At the same time, the government is seeking broad European support, especially from Germany, the continent’s economic powerhouse, for the planned withdrawal from Afghanistan, climate protection measures and efforts to counter China’s increasingly global assertiveness. It’s not clear whether sanctions against companies from Germany and elsewhere would undermine efforts to advance the goals and mend relationships that frayed during Donald Trump’s presidency.

On Wednesday, the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee unanimously passed laws requiring the administration to either sanction or explain why they deserve exemptions against 20 companies involved in financing and building the pipeline. In January the Trump administration hit several Russian companies and ships with penalties for their involvement, but Biden didn’t add to the list.

The legislation was sponsored by vocal management critic Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. But it was also supported by some of Biden’s strongest Senate democratic foreign policy supporters, such as committee chairman Bob Menendez from New Jersey, Chris Coons from Delaware, and Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire.

“I think the moment we see Putin trying to eliminate his greatest opposition leader, Navalny, in jail, the best shot we can make is to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if we get his attention want, “said Shaheen said.

Democrats agreed to back the sanctions after Republicans pledged to drop opposition to two of Biden’s top State Department candidates. The bipartisan support suggests that the administration is unlikely to be able to ignore this. Biden was criticized back in February for failing to expand the Trump administration’s sanctions.

“We share a general stance on Nord Stream 2 with many on Capitol Hill, and that is the position that it is bad business,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday on legislation that is already on the books to oppose their construction and completion. “

The government, however, has not yet taken a position on the new legislation which congressional assistants on both sides of the aisle believe they have a good chance of passing. It would give Biden 15 days from the date of the crossing to decide whether to penalize the 20 companies and ships.

The sanctions that would apply to German, Russian, Polish and Austrian companies would freeze their assets, make it difficult for them to do international business, and potentially affect their executives.

Even if Biden veto the legislation, he will face another deadline in mid-May when the State Department has to present Congress with an update on the administration’s compliance with previous laws protecting European energy security that require sanctions against unspecified companies involved in the legislation Construction of the pipeline bypassing both Poland and Ukraine.

Chancellor Angela Merkel defended German cooperation with Russia on Nord Stream 2 on Tuesday. She noted that Russian gas is already flowing freely to Europe on other routes, including the existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea to Germany.

“I would like to point out that the gas delivered through Nord Stream 2 that is not yet flowing is no worse than the gas from Nord Stream 1 that flows through Ukraine and the gas that enters Turkey from Russia.” Said Merkel.