Top Democrats in the US Senate have consistently supported sanctions against Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, but are now ready to ease pressure on President Joe Biden in connection with ongoing negotiations with the Kremlin and may not support a bill that would force him to apply sanctions.
Next week, the Senate should vote on the project of Republican Senator Ted Cruz, which would force Biden to apply PP2.
On Wednesday, there were signals from Democratic senators that they had changed their position in order not to weaken the president’s position – in view of the ongoing negotiations with the Kremlin. They believe that Cruz’s project would harm Biden now, when it is important for him to demonstrate unity with European allies, and would also take away the opportunity to use PP2 as an important element of pressure in negotiations with Russia.
Therefore, the project may not have enough votes to overcome the threshold of 60 votes.
“Currently, it is very important for us to work closely with our allies, and Germany is one of the very important allies. So I think now is a bad time for such an amendment,” said Senator Jean Shaheen.
Previously, virtually all senators from both parties supported the sanctions outlined in Cruz’s bill, and Shaheen was also one of their key supporters.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that he is trying to “wrap around” the Cruz project because it would complicate relations with the Europeans at a time when it is important to jointly counter Russia’s aggressive behavior. “It is not productive to drive a wedge into transatlantic relations now, if our ultimate goal is to save Ukraine from invasion,” he said.
Only one Democrat POLITICO spoke to, Richard Blamenthal, said he would vote yes. “It’s definitely the right thing to do, so it won’t be a difficult vote for me,” he said.
Ted Cruz doesn’t accept the Democrats’ arguments, saying they just want to support Biden, putting party favors ahead of US interests. “The only problem with the project is that the president is now a democrat. They voted yes when Trump was president, and if Trump was still president, every Democrat would support the project,” he said.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on the eve of a meeting with his German counterpart Annalena Burbock emphasized, that PP2 can be an instrument of Western pressure on Russia itself and that in the event of a new Russian aggression against Ukraine, it is difficult to imagine the operation of the gas pipeline. He also emphasized that transatlantic solidarity is the most important tool for countering Russian aggression.
Previously, Senate Democrats agreed to vote for Cruz’s proposal, with a 60-vote threshold, meaning the Republican would need more than 10 Democratic senators to push his bill through the Senate.
Cruz has also blocked the appointment of Biden’s nominees for a number of positions, promising to maintain the blockade until the Biden administration imposes sanctions on the pipeline authorized by Congress.
