Ted Cruise, a Republican Senator from Texas and former Donald Trump rival in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, announced that he would stop blocking legislators to approve William Burns as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) when the White House expands sanctions. restrictions against Nord Stream 2.
Cruz announced this on his Twitter page.
“I will lift the block when the Biden administration fulfills its legal obligations - it will draw up a report and impose sanctions on ships and companies building Putin's pipeline.
Obey the law.
Stop treating Russia too softly, ”he wrote.
I'll release my hold when the Biden admin meets its legal obligation to report and sanction the ships and companies building Putin's pipeline.
Follow the law.
Stop being soft on Russia.
# NordStream2https: //t.co/UifxAj1cuk
- Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 5, 2021
Earlier, the special intelligence committee of the US Senate supported the appointment of Burns.
Now the entire upper house of Congress will have to vote for his candidacy.
"Deliberately exacerbates the situation"
As the director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev, said in a commentary on RT, the actions of American Senator Tom Cruise once again demonstrate the inability of the two political poles of the United States to agree and not interfere with each other even on an issue on which the parties have already developed a consolidated position.
"This is an attempt by the Republican senator to put pressure on the new Democratic president, to show that the Republican Party takes a tougher position in relation to Russia," the expert explained.
Valery Garbuzov, director of the Institute for the USA and Canada, shares a similar opinion.
According to him, Cruz "uses the usual practice of putting pressure on his opponents."
“Cruz is deliberately exacerbating the situation.
He wants to show that the Republicans will make sure that the administration maintains a line on strengthening the sanctions regime against Russia.
In addition, it is important for him to once again remind the Democrats that their majority in the Senate is rather shaky, ”the analyst said in an interview with RT.
In turn, American political scientist Malek Dudakov noted that Cruz will be able to delay the approval of Burns' candidacy by lawmakers by a maximum of two weeks.
“This is just an element of the political show in Washington.
Obviously, Cruise's opinion does not interest Biden at all.
Therefore, the senator's threats will not affect the actions of the American president in any way, ”he said in a conversation with RT.
Experts are confident that the Senate will eventually approve Burns' candidacy.
“Considering that the relevant committee of the upper house of Congress has already approved this candidate, most of the senators will not object.
Only a few can vote against, ”Yuri Rogulyov explained.
Personal interest?
At the same time, according to the analyst, the desire of the Texas senator to harm the Russian-European gas project is not only political in nature, but also contains an element of personal interest.
According to the expert, Cruise's activity in developing initiatives against Nord Stream 2 can be explained by his close ties with the Texas oil business.
“Texas is a key state for the refining and production of oil, including shale oil.
And Cruise's connection to Texas-based companies in the industry is clear.
For example, ProFrac Holdings, through an intermediary, helped him during the election race.
Now the senator is just working off their help, ”Yuri Rogulyov believes.
The US media also reported on the Republican senator's interaction with the Texas oil business late last year.
So, in the material of the journalists of The Wall Street Journal, it was said that Cruz actually lobbied for the interests of ProFrac Holdings, which is involved in the production of shale oil, having obtained from ex-President Donald Trump and the US Federal Reserve to change the rules for granting loans during a pandemic.
U.S. Senator from Texas Ted Cruz
Reuters
© Erin Scott
"According to federal reports, shortly after the US government changed its lending program in April, the Wilkes brothers ProFrac Holdings LLC applied for and received a loan in the amount of $ 35 million," the report says.
Reporters emphasize that "the Republican senator helped persuade the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve to change the rules for granting loans, so that oil and gas companies can apply for them."
According to the WSJ, the Wilkes Brothers are "longtime sponsors of Cruise."
In 2016, they donated $ 15 million to the Keeping the Promise political action supercommittee, which backed Cruise's candidacy during the presidential race - then Cruz was Donald Trump's main Republican rival.
Thus, the Wilkes became "the biggest sponsors of the politician in his entire career," the publication specifies.
"BailoutWatch, a nonprofit that monitors aid to industry during the pandemic, said Cruise's efforts to ease financial hardship for (
RT
) oil and gas companies come down to rewarding his campaign sponsor," the WSJ said.
American move
Meanwhile, on March 4, during a briefing, US State Department spokesman Ned Price announced the release of another report on restrictions on Nord Stream 2.
According to him, the report should be submitted to the Congress in May this year.
According to Bloomberg sources, the Biden administration is considering, among other things, a scenario in which the American side will try to "delay the construction (of the gas pipeline. -
RT
) until the summer, when a new government may come to power in Germany after the elections, which would curtail this project." ...
As a reminder, on February 22, the United States added the pipe-laying vessel Fortuna to the list of sanctions under the Protecting Europe's Energy Security Act (PEESA).
This was announced by the US Treasury Department.
On the same day, during a regular briefing, Price admitted that the US opposition to Nord Stream 2 is political in nature.
“We are thinking in terms of geopolitics.
We are worried about the influence that (thanks to Nord Stream 2 -
RT
) Russia will get, "Price said.
He also called Nord Stream 2 "a bad deal for Europe."
According to a spokesman for the State Department, the project allegedly contradicts the stated goals of the European community in the field of energy.
This statement was answered by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.
"The State Department has admitted that the United States is undermining the basic principles of free trade and competition by subordinating the laws of the market to its own geopolitical interests, acting against the will of sovereign countries and against the interests of citizens of independent states," she wrote on her Facebook page February 23.
Zakharova also drew attention to the contradictory statements of the American side.
“Germany constantly declares that this project is profitable for it!
And the United States constantly declares that the economy and energy cannot be politicized!
And now those who do not want to politicize the economy and energy will help those who benefit from the project from an economic and energy point of view, not to implement it? ”- said the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
A State Department official said that the reason for Washington's rejection of the Nord Stream-2 project ...
Published by Maria Zakharova Tuesday 23 February 2021
Let us remind you that in mid-February, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on the air of the Russia 1 TV channel that more than 95% of Nord Stream 2 was built.
According to him, the Russian side is confident that, despite the "destructive approaches" of the United States, which are delaying the construction of the gas pipeline, it "will be completed."
"Will not lead to anything"
According to Valery Garbuzov, the Biden administration will continue the sanctions policy against Nord Stream 2.
“The new administration has the same goal as the previous one - to hinder the implementation of the project.
This line was even more pronounced under Donald Trump.
Then the American authorities openly declared that the Russian Federation is a serious competitor for the United States in the energy market.
They also did not hide the fact that the United States intends to seize this market with the help of its liquefied gas, ”the analyst said.
The new administration's geopolitical goals come to the fore, judging by the statements of the new authorities, but the type of measures against the gas pipeline does not change, says Garbuzov.
The White house
Reuters
© ERIN SCOTT
“The option of delaying the construction of Nord Stream 2 until the summer, I think, is really seriously considered by the White House in its current composition.
They will probably try to make sure that the project is not completed before the parliamentary elections in Germany, ”the expert said.
As Malek Dudakov explained, Washington hopes that if the Social Democrats or other political forces come to power in Germany, then it will have room to maneuver against the gas pipeline.
However, whatever sanctions measures the White House may take against Russia, their effect will not be able to interfere with the implementation of the project, analysts are sure.
The US sanctions policy against the construction of Nord Stream 2 "has a certain limit," Valery Garbuzov emphasized.
“Therefore, both in Europe and in the United States, it is increasingly said that the restrictions have not reached their ultimate goal.
The initiators of the sanctions restrictions against the gas pipeline feel and understand that such a policy should be revised, but they do not know in which direction to move.
This is a very big problem for them.
Even if the United States subsequently begins to impose sectoral or personal sanctions against the Russian Federation because of the project, this will lead nowhere, ”the expert concluded.