WASHINGTON, Dec 18, 2019 (AFP) – The US Senate voted Tuesday to slap
sanctions on companies working on Russia’s Nord Stream pipeline, sending a
bill to President Donald Trump that is sure to antagonize European nations
counting on the project’s natural gas.
The measure, inserted into a huge annual defense spending bill, passed 86
to eight after easily clearing the House of Representatives last week.
It aims to halt further construction of the $10.6 billion pipeline being
built under the Baltic Sea and is set to double shipments of Russian natural
gas to Germany.
The German-Russian Chamber of Commerce said last week the pipeline was
important for the energy security of Europe and called for retaliatory
sanctions on the US if the bill passes.
But US lawmakers have warned it would send billions of dollars to Moscow
and vastly increase President Vladimir Putin’s influence in Europe at a time
of heightened tension.
The National Defense Authorization Act, a $738 billion package for 2020
that includes the sanctions, now heads to the White House, where Trump is
expected to sign it.
The sanctions target pipe-laying vessels for Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream,
a Russia-Turkey pipeline, and include asset freezes and revocation of US
visas for the contractors.
One major contractor that could be hit is Swiss-based Allseas, which has
been hired by Russia’s Gazprom to build the offshore section.
The power of Gazprom and therefore the Russian state is at the center of
concerns about the pipeline in the US and in eastern and central Europe.
Senator Ted Cruz has said halting Nord Stream 2 should be a major security
priority for the United States and Europe alike.
“It’s far better for Europe to be relying on energy from the United States
than to be fueling Putin and Russia and dependent on Russia and subject to
economic blackmail,” he told the Senate last week.
But Senator Rand Paul, a fellow Republican, voted against the bill,
objecting to its bid to “sanction NATO allies and potentially American energy
companies.,” Paul said of the project.
“The pipeline will be completed, and yet we want to jeopardize our
relationship with our allies and with businesses both in Europe and America,”
Paul said of the project.