The House of Representatives of the US Congress approved the draft defense budget for the next fiscal year, which obliges the administration to tighten sanctions on the Nord Stream-2 and Turkish Stream pipelines.
The vote was broadcast on the website of the lower house of the legislature, 295 congressmen supported the draft budget for $740.5 billion, 125 opposed.
The document requires the Washington administration to toughen the existing sanctions against the Russian gas pipelines Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream.
At the end of December 2019, US President Donald Trump signed a military budget for the current fiscal year, which obliges the administration to impose sanctions on these projects. Restrictions must now be imposed against foreigners who greatly facilitate the sale, lease or provision of pipe-laying vessels for the construction of Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream.
In addition, the budget project envisages the allocation of almost $3.8 billion for the European Containment Initiative program, which, according to the American authorities, is aimed at “containing Russia.”
As noted in the document, Ukraine in the next fiscal year through the military line from the United States may receive $ 250 million. American congressmen in the text of the draft express concern about the intention of the US administration to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty (OST).
Legislators are allocating $ 3.6 billion to “contain China in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.” The draft contains a ban on the use of budgetary funds for “conducting nuclear tests or preparing for tests with nuclear explosions of any power.”
Congressmen are introducing a ban on the use of the TikTok application in the electronic devices of the country’s government agencies. Among other things, lawmakers are allocating $ 1 billion to the Pentagon from the budget to fight the coronavirus pandemic.