Today, January 13, the US Senate has scheduled a vote on a bill that directs President Joe Biden to tighten sanctions against the NSP2 pipeline, which is designed to deliver Russian gas to Europe
Republican Senator Ted Cruz’s initiative needs 60 votes to pass – that is the support of at least ten of Biden’s fellow Democrats, whose administration is campaigning against the bill, according to local press reports.
“The Senate will meet at 10:00am on Thursday. A bill on sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is scheduled to be debated at that time”, – the statement said.
The bill would sanction “any official of an entity created for or responsible for the planning, construction or operation” of the pipeline as well as the entity itself. This is how Cruz is trying to get the project operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, and its chief executive, Matthias Warnig, released from U.S. restrictions.
The sanctions involve blocking assets in US jurisdiction and a ban on entry into the US.
Earlier it was reported that the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his government will support Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. This was reported in a Financial Times piece