Washington has reached an agreement to include additional sanctions against Russia’s natural gas pipeline to Germany in a must-pass defense bill, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the issue.
According to the report, the fresh sanctions against Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline would target insurance and certification companies working with Russian vessels on the completion of the project. They would be included as part of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which must be passed by the end of the year.
The US will now have to notify its allies before imposing the new sanctions. This provision was added after House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel of New York expressed concern that the sanctions would hurt Germany and European countries, while letting Russia “off the hook.”
Sanctions that could hinder one of Moscow’s most important projects in Europe, the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, have been included in the annual U.S. defense policy bill, two congressional aides said on Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteThe sanctions in the compromise National Defense Authorization Act between lawmakers in the House and Senate would penalize companies facilitating the construction of the pipeline, including ships helping operations to lay pipelines or moving rock formations on the sea bed.
The sanctions also target companies providing insurance or secondary insurance for its construction and certification for the pipeline in Denmark. The bill would become law only after being passed by both chambers in Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.