Biden Gives Reason for Waiving Pipeline Sanctions

President Joe Biden says he backed off from new US sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project because it’s nearly completed, and the move would have hurt relations with Europe.

“It’s almost completely finished,” Biden told reporters on the 25^th May as he left the White House for a funeral in Wilmington, Delaware. “To go ahead and impose sanctions now, I think is counter-productive in terms of our European relations.”

The Biden administration said last week that Nord Stream 2 and its chief executive Matthia Warnig are engaged in sanctionable activity under US law but that it would waive the penalties for national security reasons.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has applauded the decision and said she’ll discuss the project with Biden at the G-7 summit in the U.K. next month.

But some US lawmakers have criticised Mr Biden for waiving the sanctions, out of concern the gas pipeline will tie Western Europe closer to Russia.

Source: Rigzone