The United States has broadened its interpretation of the provisions of the law that imposed sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream gas pipelines.
A statement published on the State Department's website notes that restrictions may now affect companies that provide services or goods for ships involved in projects.
“This type of activity, subject to sanctions under the European Energy Security Act (PEESA) or other powers, includes, but is not limited to, the provision of services or the provision of facilities for the modernization or installation of equipment for such vessels, as well as financing modernization or installation of equipment for such vessels, ”the ministry said in a statement.
Prior to this, restrictive measures affected only companies that directly provide ships for the construction of Nord Stream 2.
The State Department said that the Secretary of State, in agreement with the Minister of Finance, must submit to Congress a report indicating the vessels that took part in the construction of gas pipelines, as well as foreign persons who “knowingly sold, rented or provided these vessels for the construction of these projects.”
The State Department said that Russia allegedly "uses the export of energy resources through pipelines to make states and regions dependent on Russian energy supplies," and thus "seeks to expand its political, economic and military influence, weaken European security, as well as undermine national security and foreign policy interests of the United States ”.
The first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy Igor Ananskikh, in a conversation with RT, expressed the opinion that this decision by Washington is "a ripple of air for election campaign speeches."
"The US leaders themselves say that they cannot come up with any new sanctions: all the sanctions that could have been invented have already been invented, and this did not affect anything," the parliamentarian said.
© nord-stream2.com
In turn, the leading expert of the National Energy Security Fund and the Financial University under the Russian government, Stanislav Mitrakhovich, in an interview with RT, pointed out that the United States is fighting the Nord Stream 2 project so that Europe is more dependent on the United States for energy.
“For this, various mechanisms are used, including the punishment of those companies that have provided, are or will provide assistance to Gazprom in upgrading the Akademik Chersky vessel, and other vessels that Russia uses to help Akademik Chersky to complete the construction of Nord Stream - 2 ", - explained the expert.
Nord Stream 2 is a two-strand gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the Russian coast in the Baltic Sea to Germany.
The completion of the project is opposed by Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states, as well as the United States, which is promoting its liquefied natural gas to the EU.
These countries claim that the pipeline allegedly threatens Europe's energy security.
Russia has repeatedly reminded that Nord Stream 2 is an exclusively commercial project.
At the end of December 2019, US President Donald Trump approved the country's defense budget for the new fiscal year, which includes sanctions against the Russian pipelines Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream.
In particular, the document referred to the introduction of restrictive measures against ships laying pipes at a depth of more than 100 feet (30 m), as well as companies that sell or lease such ships.
After that, the Swiss Allseas, which was laying pipes for Nord Stream 2, curtailed the work, later declaring that it would not return to participate in the construction of this pipeline.
The Russian Foreign Ministry then said that the United States was trying to ban other countries from developing their economies.
In July, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened new sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream gas pipelines.
He added that this could be an "unequivocal warning" to companies that provide assistance to Russian projects.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the United States is using political pressure in order to unscrupulous competition.
In addition, in August 2020, three American senators - Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and Ron Johnson - sent a letter to the operator of the German port of Mukran in the city of Sassnitz, demanding that work to support the construction of the pipeline be stopped, threatening otherwise "serious consequences."
Burgomaster Sassnitz Frank Kracht in an interview with RT Deutsch commented on the possibility of Washington introducing new restrictive measures against Nord Stream 2, which the city may fall under, and called such actions by the American side a violation of international law.