Washington will continue to oppose the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

This was stated by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at a hearing at the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee.

“President Biden thinks this (construction of JV-2.

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) is a bad idea.

He spoke about this many times, and I share his point of view.

It violates the EU's own energy security principles.

It poses a threat to the economic and strategic position of Ukraine, as well as Poland.

The President is against, we are against, and we will continue to do so, ”Blinken said.

At the same time, he recalled that Nord Stream 2 is in the final stages of construction.

“I have been in office for about five weeks and (as of now -

RT

) the pipeline is 95% ready.

Construction began in 2018.

I hope we will not find ourselves in a situation where the pipeline is completed, ”Blinken said.

Subsequently, the diplomat added that the department under his control will continue to study the possibility of introducing new sanctions.

As a reminder, in February, the US State Department presented to Congress a report on measures to counter the construction of Nord Stream 2.

It noted that the pipe-laying vessel Fortuna and the company KVT-RUS, which owns it, were included in the sanctions list under the Law "On the Protection of Energy Security of Europe" (PEESA).

At the same time, the ship and its owner were already on the sanctions lists under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

Stumbling project 

Recall that the United States, as well as Ukraine, Poland and some other allies of Washington in Europe have consistently opposed Nord Stream 2.

The project consists of two lines of a gas pipeline with a length of more than 1.2 thousand kilometers each with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

The pipes run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea through the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of five countries: Russia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Germany.

However, Germany does not agree with the US position on Nord Stream 2: the government of Angela Merkel is in favor of completing the construction of the gas pipeline and against unilateral extraterritorial sanctions from Washington.

At the same time, in the United States itself, some congressmen and senators from the Republican Party in recent months have repeatedly criticized the State Department and the Biden administration for not being too active, in their opinion, opposition to the implementation of Nord Stream 2.

  • Capitol (Washington)

  • © REUTERS / Joshua Roberts

For example, Republican Senator Jim Risch and his fellow House of Representatives Michael McCall called the State Department's report unconvincing, and the restrictions indicated in it were insufficient.

In his commentary on the document, Risch recalled that Congress approved many legislative initiatives and specifically expanded the range of mandatory sanctions, with the introduction of which the Biden administration is hesitating.

The parliamentarians said that the inclusion of the pipelayer Fortuna and its owner KVT-RUS in the sanctions list under the PEESA law does not meet the intentions of the Congress, since the previous administration had already applied sanctions against them under another law.

In early March, Congressman McCall, along with other Republicans from the House of Representatives, sent a letter to the head of the State Department in which they expressed fear that the Biden administration intends to make a compromise solution and reach some agreement with the German authorities on the implementation of Nord Stream 2.

“We fear that this ambiguity (in the behavior of Biden. 

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) is explained by the intention to leave the possibility of concluding a deal with Germany retroactively.

Any agreement that does not impede the construction of Nord Stream 2 will be wrong, ”the politicians noted in a letter to Blinken.

The Republicans also stressed that any decision that calls for the lifting of restrictive measures would be contrary to the interests of Washington and the European Union.

“The lifting of congressional sanctions in exchange for Germany’s dubious commitment to preserve gas transit through Ukraine or a promise to finance the EU’s energy infrastructure will not only run counter to the EU and US security interests, but also demonstrate a disdain for the congressional constitutional prerogatives,” they stressed parliamentarians.

In turn, Republican Senator Ted Cruz from Texas - one of the most consistent opponents of Nord Stream 2 - delivered an ultimatum to the White House.

He said he would not approve of Biden's proposed candidacy for William Burns for the post of CIA director until new sanctions were applied.

“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, "Cruz wrote on his Twitter.

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

Commenting on the current situation, HSE professor Alexander Domrin in an interview with RT noted that an "anti-Russian consensus" has developed between the two main political forces of the United States on the issue of Nord Stream 2.

“It can be expected that the United States under the 46th President will maintain the course of the previous administration.

Another thing is that due to poor health, Biden is now unable to actively and toughly pursue a policy towards Nord Stream 2 personally, "the expert suggested.

Russia's position

Russia has repeatedly stated that the Nord Stream 2 project is purely commercial in nature.

Commenting on the February statements of the State Department about Washington's concern about the influence of Russia, which it allegedly can get thanks to the gas pipeline, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said that Washington's actions undermine the principles of free trade.

"The State Department has admitted that the United States is undermining the basic principles of free trade and competition, 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," Zakharova wrote on Facebook.

  • construction of Nord Stream - 2

  • © REUTERS / Anton Vaganov

Alexander Domrin also agrees with this assessment of Washington's line on the Russian gas pipeline.

“The United States uses methods of open unfair competition, because it wants Ukraine to buy their expensive coal, and European countries - gas, despite the fact that it is more profitable for European states to buy it from Russia from an economic point of view.

It turns out that if a country in the political and economic field is strong, like the United States, then it can afford to impose its course on other states.

For example, earlier Washington, with the help of pressure, achieved that Bulgaria, which from the standpoint of the economy was profitable to have a pipeline from Russia, abandoned this plan, ”Domrin recalled.

A similar opinion is shared by Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University.

In an interview with RT, he stressed that during the construction of the gas pipeline, the United States used "a wide variety of methods and methods of pressure" on the participants in this project.

“There were threats and sanctions against companies, pressure on the governments of independent states, threats against Russia, information attacks, the involvement of various political and public activists in European countries who tried to create negative public opinion on this issue.

However, these measures did not give any result, since this energy sector is extremely beneficial to Europe from the point of view of the economy.

The only thing that the United States could achieve was to slow down its implementation, ”the political scientist stated.

At the same time, he stressed that the statement of the head of the US Department of State Blinken that Nord Stream 2 allegedly poses a threat to Ukraine and Poland is not true. 

“Moreover, Moscow guarantees Kiev the continuation of gas transit through the Ukrainian territory.

In fact, both Ukraine and Poland are harmed more by their own authorities, which for a long time did everything to stop Russian transit operations in these countries, ”Shapovalov said.

The expert also recalled that Poland is implementing a gas pipeline project with Norway. 

“In this context, the statements that Nord Stream 2 is harmful, while the Norwegian-Polish one is not, sound especially cynical.

And this is despite the fact that both projects are being implemented at the same time and practically on the same territory, ”explained Vladimir Shapovalov.

According to him, hiding behind the interests of Poland and Ukraine, the United States is striving to implement its own ambitious gas project to sell LNG to European countries.

“It is amazing that the US recently re-added the ship Fortuna and its owner to the sanctions list.

Perhaps Washington has forgotten about it or they have run out of methods of influence, so they went in a circle.

However, the United States will not stop and, in all likelihood, will continue the policy of pressure on Nord Stream-2, which will be brought to a new level after this project is finally implemented, ”the political scientist predicted.