Russia races to complete 'Nord Stream 2', US lawmakers eager to demand sanctions

Several US lawmakers on February 17 pressured the US State Department to impose sanctions on parties involved in Nord Stream 2, a gas pipeline project that Russia is rushing to complete to transport gas from the country to Europe.

“If completed, Nord Stream 2 would enable the Putin regime to turn Russian energy into a weapon of political pressure across Europe,” two Republican and two Democratic lawmakers said in a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

US lawmakers say the Biden administration missed a February 16 deadline to submit to Congress a report required in a recently passed bill on companies that helped Russian energy giant Gazprom install and construct the pipeline.

Several companies, including Zurich Insurance Group, have left the project due to sanctions concerns while others have also withdrawn, making construction more difficult.

Nord Stream 2 is more than 90 percent complete, but a complex section of the pipeline still needs to be laid under Denmark's Black Sea coast. Lawmakers have asked Secretary Blinken to hold a meeting with State Department officials to update them on the status of a report reviewing sanctions enforcement on several ships believed to have helped complete the project.

In a letter to the State Department, the lawmakers listed 15 vessels that “may have been involved” in pipeline installation or related activities since January 1, when the most recent US sanctions were enacted into law. Among the 15 ships are the Russian-flagged Ivan Sidorenko, Murman and Fortune. The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the Fortuna on his last full day in the White House (January 19).

The lawmakers said the State Department press conference should provide details about "whatever plans the Biden administration will put forward forthe future of this pipeline".

Russia's Gazprom Group confirmed that the above project will be completed in 2021./.