Page 16 - FSUOGM Week 22

FSUOGM POLICY FSUOGM
US senators to introduce new Nord Stream 2 sanctions bill
RUSSIA
Russia wants to use its own pipelaying vessel to complete the pipeline.
TWO US senators are expected to introduce new sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline in a last-ditch attempt to kill the contro- versial project off completely, Reuters reported on May 31.
The bill is being proposed by Senators Ted Cruz, a Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Dem- ocrat, and could be filed on June 1, according to a Reuter’s source.
The US government has objected to the pipe- line, which connects Germany directly to Rus- sia’s Yamal gas fields by running under the Baltic Sea, as threatening Europe’s energy security. Several EU members, most notably Poland, have also objected to the pipeline, although Germany has stood resolutely behind what it has called “a purely commercial project.”
The pipeline is close to completion, but missed its deadline for the start of this year after the US imposed new sanctions on the pipeline in December, causing US contractors to drop the project immediately.
Late last year sanctions sponsored by Cruz and Shaheen halted work by Swiss-Dutch com- pany Allseas on the pipeline that aims to double the capacity of an existing line sending Russian gas to Germany.
Russia says it is determined to finish the project on its own, but lacks the technically advanced ships that can lay the last sections of the pipeline, causing delays to completion.
Now a Russian pipe-laying vessel aims to fin- ish the remaining 100 miles (160 km) of the pro- ject, which would bypass Ukraine by sending gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The pipeline could be launched by the end of 2020 or early
next year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said after the Reuters story about senators weighing new sanctions that Moscow considers such measures to be unfair competition and contradictory to international law.
Cruz told the Atlantic Council think-tank this month that new sanctions would apply to any ship or any owner who attempts to finish the project. Ship officers would lose their ability to come to the United States and all their assets would be blocked, he said.
While the sanctions have been sold as a question of political energy security, many observers have also noted Washington’s cynical use of foreign policy to promote its own eco- nomic interests and boost its exports of LNG in particular.
In the last month Ukraine has done a deal with US companies to source half of its gas imports from the US as LNG. Likewise, in Tur- key last week LNG imports outstripped piped gas imports from Russia for the first time ever. Turk- ish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is currently in the process of repairing relational damage done after Ankara ignored Washington’s objects to its decision to purchase a Russian-made S-400 missile defence system.
Romania also announced last week the state-controlled nuclear energy producer Nuclearelectrica will begin talks to terminate the agreement signed with China’s CGN on the construction of two new reactors at the Cerna- voda nuclear power plant (NPP), reportedly as a result of US pressure. ™
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 22 03•June•2020