The push to enforce Nord Stream 2 sanctions comes weeks after the European Parliament voted 581-50-44 in favor of passing a resolution demanding that the construction of the $11 billion Baltic Sea pipeline, which is approximately 90% complete, be stopped immediately.
Sens. Jim Risch (R-WI) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) issued a memo to US President Joe Biden on Friday, urging the latter to fully implement the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act (PEESA), which accuses Russia of using its "energy export pipelines to create national and regional dependencies on Russian energy supplies," Sputnik reported.
The memo claims that the pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany, will be a "potent new geopolitical tool for Russia, allowing it to deprive Ukraine, Slovakia, and other nations of transit fees."
While Biden has claimed the pipeline to be a "bad deal for Europe," German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze insisted earlier this week that Germany will continue to rely on gas "until about 2040."
The US lawmakers' letter to Biden comes amid calls for the European Union to level new sanctions against Moscow and companies involved with the natural gas pipeline.
"The EU should understand that even if sanctions cost Russia a lot, they are impacting also European economies," Andrea Picchielli, a member of Italy's Lega party, told Sputnik Friday. "Europe-Russia trade has declined already in the last years, and in this moment of a big economic crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, imposing new sanctions is really nonsense."
The 1,222-kilometer Russian natural gas pipeline starts in Russia and ends in the German city of Greifswald crossing the Baltic Sea. The natural gas transmission capacity of this line is equal to 150 million cubic meters per day.
MA/SPUTNIK
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