On January 19, local time, the US government announced new sanctions against Russia and Venezuela.
The US State Department issued a statement on the same day announcing sanctions on a Russian company and its pipe-laying ship "Fortuna", on the grounds that it participated in the construction of the "Beixi-2" submarine gas pipeline project.
In another statement, the U.S. State Department announced sanctions against multiple entities, individuals, and ships on the grounds of assisting the Venezuelan government in evading US sanctions on the Venezuelan oil industry.
The "Beixi-2" project aims to lay a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea bottom, which can bypass Ukraine and transport Russian natural gas to Germany and other European countries.
The total length of the project is about 1,200 kilometers, and more than 90% has been completed.
At the end of 2019, the United States announced sanctions on companies participating in the "Beixi-2" project.
Since 2019, the United States has continued to pressure Venezuela to prohibit individuals or entities from other countries from importing Venezuelan crude oil.
The Venezuelan government has repeatedly requested the lifting of economic sanctions against Venezuela during the epidemic, and emphasized that Venezuela, as a sovereign country, has the right to conduct free trade with other countries and should not be subject to outside interference.
(Edited by Le Xiaomin)
Editor in charge: [Li Yuxin]