Democrats sink Ted Cruz Senate bill to sanction Nord Stream 2
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Senate failed to pass a bill sanctioning Nord Stream 2, with the vote falling short of just 5 votes.
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Cruz speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington (AP)
Senate failed on Thursday to pass a bill sanctioning Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, despite months of efforts by Senator Ted Cruz to target the project, according to Axios.
The Biden administration had been lobbying Democrats to defeat the bill, with the vote reaching 55-44 in the end. The bill needed just five more votes (60) to pass.
Although a number of US administrations have opposed the pipeline under the pretense that it would give Russia more control over Europe, increasing its dependency on the former's energy exports, the pipeline would also deprive Ukraine of billions of dollars in gas transit fees.
There was overwhelming bipartisan support for sanctions against the pipeline during the former Trump administration, which stalled construction, but by the time when Biden was in office, Nord Stream 2 was 95% complete and so Biden waived sanctions on the pipeline in favor of repairing relations with Germany, striking a deal in the process.
This prompted Cruz to start a blockade of all of Biden's nominees for the State Department. Eventually, a deal was reached with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to allow the nominees to pass in exchange for a Senate vote on his sanctions bill.
Although the bill did not pass, any votes that will take place in the future on sanctions against Russia might prompt Republicans to propose an amendment to sanction the pipeline as well. This time it will only take 51 votes to make it pass.
Sanctions against Russia extended
The EU Council extended Thursday sanctions on Russia for 6 months in light of the escalating tensions with Ukraine.
The sanctions also come despite attempts at mending the torn relations between Russia and the West through the Geneva talks with Washington on security guarantees over Ukraine.
Russia has been demanding a written commitment that Ukraine would never be able to join NATO and that the alliance would not place any military equipment in certain countries in the region surrounding Russia.
The Kremlin sees that it is best for Russian security that the alliance does not expand eastward and that Russia does not have any Western military activity in its vicinity.
