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US congressmen urge Blinken to impose new sanctions against Nord Stream 2

"We are deeply concerned that the Administration’s strong statements in opposition to the pipeline are not being matched by equally strong actions," the lawmakers said

© EPA-EFE/CLEMENS BILAN

WASHINGTON, March 9. /TASS/. US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Lead Republican Michael McCaul and four of his fellow party members requested that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken explain why the US administration has not yet imposed sanctions on several companies engaged in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.

In a letter released by the committee’s press service, the congressmen express their concern by the current US administration’s reluctance to implement "plans for the mandatory Nord Stream 2 sanctions" required under the current legislation. In the letter, the Republicans also ask for clarity "on why numerous entities reportedly engaged in sanctionable activity related to the Russian malign Nord Stream 2 pipeline project have yet to be sanctioned."

"We are deeply concerned that the Administration’s strong statements in opposition to the pipeline are not being matched by equally strong actions," the lawmakers wrote.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said last week that the next report on the pipeline-related restrictions is to be submitted to the US Congress in May. The Republicans insist that the list of companies designated for sanctions be submitted prior to that date.

The Nord Stream 2 project contemplates the construction of two pipeline strings with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The construction was suspended in December 2019 after Allseas, a Swiss company laying the pipes for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, suspended pipe-laying work over possible US sanctions and recalled its ships. Nord Stream 2 AG resumed pipe-laying work in December 2020, building 2.6 km of the pipeline in Germany’s exclusive economic zone.

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