On national security grounds, the U.S. administration has declined to enforce penalties against Nord Stream 2 AG, the pipeline’s operator, and its chief executive, Matthias Warnig. According to a written statement released on Wednesday by Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (New Jersey), TASS reports.
The US administration plans to waive sanctions against Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of Nord Stream 2, and its Managing Director Matthias Warnig, according to the Axios news website, quoting two sources. According to the paper, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has no plans to sour ties with Germany over the gas pipeline, but the State Department will call for sanctions against some Russian courts.
The Nord Stream 2 project entails the development of two lines of a gas pipeline from Russia’s coast via the Baltic Sea to Germany, with a combined capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year. The project was halted in December 2019 after the Swiss Allseas Group decided to stop laying pipes due to the threat of U.S. sanctions. After a year’s hiatus, work on the gas pipeline resumed in December 2020. Nord Stream 2 is currently 95% full.
