US House of Representatives approves sanctions against Nord Stream 2

The House of Representatives of the US Congress agreed to amend the annual draft defense budget, which provides for sanctions against the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, Evropeyska Pravda reports.

The House of Representatives voted unanimously to amend the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including sanctions legislation.

The draft law has yet to be approved by the Senate and signed by US President Joe Biden.

The changes made oblige the US President to impose sanctions against all individuals and companies involved in the activities and construction of Nord Stream 2.

These amendments will potentially jeopardize the agreement reached by the Biden administration and Germany in July on Nord Stream 2. The amendment does not allow exemption from sanctions under various pretexts, for example, in the interests of national security. This is the mechanism that the White House has recently used.

The amendment to the House of Representatives was presented by a group of legislators led by Michael McCall (Republican) and Marcy Kaptur (Democrat). Kaptur is the co-chairman of the Ukrainian Caucus of the US Congress.

Biden agreed in May to drop congressional sanctions on the pipeline in an attempt to smooth relations with Germany, which has supported the pipeline.

To recap:

On September 10, Gazprom announced that the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline had been completed.

The German Federal Network Agency has received documents for the certification of the Russian gas pipeline.

Later, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the time frame for obtaining permission to launch Nord Stream 2.