It seemed like timing was good.

Just in time for Antony Blinken and Sergej Lavrov's first meeting at the meeting of foreign ministers of the Arctic Council in Iceland on Wednesday, it became known in Washington that the American side wanted to give way in the dispute over the NordStream-2 pipeline.

Blinken and Lavrow also wanted to talk about various bilateral problems in Reykjavik, which undoubtedly include the gas pipeline.

Finally, it is important to determine whether the conditions for a summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin in the summer are in place.

The American signal was actually not aimed at the Russian, but rather the German side.

Christian Geinitz

Business correspondent in Berlin

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    Johannes Leithäuser

    Political correspondent in Berlin.

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      Majid Sattar

      Political correspondent for North America based in Washington.

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        The online service Axios reported on Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter, that the Biden government wants to waive the application of sanctions against Nord Stream 2 AG and its German managing director, Putin confidante Matthias Warnig.

        The State Department intends to impose penalties on only a few Russian ships in an upcoming report to Congress.

        The report should state that both the company and Warnig are involved in activities that can be sanctioned.

        The Ministry of Foreign Affairs exempts both from punitive measures.

        The report to Congress is due every 90 days;

        the deadline expires this week.

        "Not an easy commercial project"

        If Washington leaves punitive measures against the ships, the project as a whole is not endangered. This has to be seen as a concession towards Berlin. With a view to national security, the Biden government decided to avoid falling out with Germany. A few weeks ago there were fundamental discussions between high-ranking diplomats from Berlin and Washington. On the German side, these were led by Antje Leendertse, State Secretary in the Foreign Office.

        These did not lead any further. Washington was ultimately faced with the question of issuing sanctions that would have hit Germany directly. That would have jeopardized the American approach of facing the challenges China and Russia pose for the West together with their allies. Washington decided against it. The federal government was not surprised by the move. Blinken phoned Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Tuesday. The State Department said Blinken had reiterated Washington's opposition to the project and underscored its determination to work with allies "to counter Russian efforts that undermine our collective security." Further talks between Berlin and Washington about Russia policy are likely to follow.

        The White House should not have been surprised that the Republicans in Congress immediately criticized the move. Michael McCaul, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives, said that should it come to that, it would be an indication that the Biden administration never really wanted to prevent the pipeline. “This pipeline is not a simple commercial project that could affect our relations with (the government in) Berlin. It is a Russian project of malicious influence that threatens to deepen Europe's energy dependence on Moscow. ”Republican Senator Ben Sasse accused Biden of giving Putin“ a massive strategic leverage in Europe ”. The rejection of the project is shared by Democrats. The confirmation of further diplomats by the Senate could be more difficult.