US defense budget to include sanctions against Nord Stream 2
The US defense budget for 2020 will include a provision on sanctions against companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Republican Senator James Risch, Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Defense News on October 23.
The text of the sanctions has not yet been publicized, but the senator said that it is similar to the “Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act”, which was sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz.
The bill will impose sanctions on the companies that are providing specialized vessels for the laying of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea.
The sanctions will target companies laying pipes at a depth greater than 100 feet (around 30.5 m) below sea level. The authors of the bill propose to confiscate these companies’ assets within US jurisdiction, and also to fine the facility’s insurance providers.
Risch believes that the sanctions will force the companies to “shut down”, after which Russia will have to find a new way to complete the project.
The senator noted that both houses of Congress and the banking committees are in agreement on the new sanctions.
At the end of June, the US House of Representatives ratified a bill to impose targeted sanctions on companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2. In July, the sanctions were approved by the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is designed to span the bottom of the Baltic Sea, connecting suppliers in Russia to consumers in Europe. It will be more than 1,200 km long and will have a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year. The project is being realized by a consortium between Russia’s Gazprom and the European companies Engie, Uniper, OMV, Shell and Wintershall.