US President Joe Biden found himself “between a rock and a hard place” because of the situation with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. This is reported by Politico, citing sources in the Biden administration.
According to them, the US government, on the one hand, would like to stop the construction of Nord Stream 2, which Biden considers a “bad deal” for Europe. On the other hand, the president and his team want to strengthen the US relationship with Germany, which is in favor of completing the project.
“We are caught between a rock and a hard place,” an administration source said.
It is noted that, in addition, representatives of the Republican Party are putting pressure on the American leader. For example, Republican Senator Ted Cruz blocked the presidential candidates for the posts of CIA director and deputy secretary of state in order to motivate Biden to take more decisive measures against the pipeline.
Earlier, the head of the press service of the State Department, Ned Price, called the condition for the introduction of new sanctions against the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. According to him, the United States will introduce new restrictions on the condition that within the three months allocated for this by the legislation, the American administration will calculate additional legal entities involved in the construction of the project. He also noted that if sanctions are necessary, the department will inform about it additionally.
On March 4, US senators called on US President Joe Biden to impose sanctions against companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. In their letter, 40 Republican senators expressed concern over the fact that the Biden administration never imposed sanctions on the ships and companies involved in the construction of the pipeline, while all information about them is in the public domain.
Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, laid along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. It was supposed to be commissioned at the end of 2019, but the completion of construction had to be postponed due to US sanctions.