The US Senate rejected a draft law imposing additional sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Although the majority of senators voted for the bill, it did not achieve the required number of 60 votes.
“The issue of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to bring Russian gas to Germany should not be mixed up with political and human rights disputes with...
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A total of 55 senators, including six Democrats, voted for the bill proposed by Republican Senator Ted Cruz. 46 were against, including Republican Rand Paul. The draft law provided for the imposition of sanctions on the gas pipeline operator within 15 days of the adoption of the law.
The vote was the result of an agreement between Senator Cruz and the Democrats in which the party allowed the project to be voted on and in return Senator Cruz would stop blocking President Joe Biden’s ambassadorial appointments.
The failure of the project is the result of, inter alia, pressure from the White House, which convinced the Democrats - previously overwhelmingly in favor of sanctions - not to interfere with diplomatic attempts to resolve the crisis with Russia. The Biden administration also argued that the sanctions could undermine the agreement with the German government, which assumed the suspension of NS2 in the event of Russian aggression. The Ukrainian authorities, in turn, lobbied for the adoption of the bill.
“The German government criticises the European Commission's (EC) stance on declaring nuclear energy 'green'. It Suggests that other EU countries...
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