Biden Shuts Down U.S. Pipeline, Waives sanctions on Nord Stream, Russia, German Pipeline
Biden’s shutdown of the Keystone Pipeline put many Americans out of work and shocked the U.S. economy. Gasoline prices have spiked, making the U.S. more oil dependent. Pleas to reverse his stance that had a massive effect on American lives and companies fell on blind ears.
Not only did Biden refused to impose sanctions on the Russian, German Nord Stream which also threatens the U.S. economy, he gave Nord Stream the Green Light to appease Germany.
Biden Says Nord Stream 2 Sanctions Would Damage Relations With European Allies. RFE
U.S. President Joe Biden said his administration decided to waive sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline because the project is almost finished, and sanctions would have harmed relations with European allies.
“It’s almost completely finished,” Biden said of the gas pipeline that will bring gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
“It’s not like I can allow Germany to do something or not…. To go ahead and impose sanctions now would, I think, be counterproductive in terms of our European relations,” he told reporters, adding that he was against the project since its inception.
The State Department said that the Russian company behind the pipeline, Nord Stream 2 AG, and its German CEO, Matthias Warnig, an associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, engaged in sanctionable activity. But the Biden administration waived the sanctions because doing so was in the U.S. national interest.
In Washington, the sanctions waivers were met with criticism from Republicans and some Democrats.
The pipeline, which is about 95 percent complete and could be finished by September, was at the center of a political tussle between Berlin and Washington during the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump.