WASHINGTON — As Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration Wednesday added to its economic sanctions package targeting Moscow by allowing previously blocked sanctions to take effect against the company behind the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, according to three individuals familiar with the matter.
Announcing the sanctions in a statement, Biden emphasized that the U.S. “will not hesitate to take further steps if Russia continues to escalate.”
Additional sanctions, following the initial package announced Tuesday, came amid unmistakable signals that Russian President Vladimir Putin is escalating his invasion of Ukraine. Putin on Monday formally recognized two separatist territories in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, Donetsk and Luhansk, as independent, and Russia’s upper house of Parliament on Tuesday approved the deployment of troops.
A senior Defense Department official said that while U.S. officials are still confirming Russian troop movements, those forces are “as ready as they can be” to launch a full invasion. “They are dang near 100%,” said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details. “They’re in a three-point stance and ready to go.”
Leaders in the region were equally blunt. Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, during an interview with CNN, cited information that “Putin is moving additional forces and tanks into the occupied Donbas territories.”
Washington’s addition to its sanctions package came a day after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose country controls the Nord Stream 2 pipeline built to transport natural gas from Russia directly to Germany, announced he was halting certification of the uncompleted project.
“Through his actions, President Putin has provided the world with an overwhelming incentive to move away from Russian gas and to other forms of energy,” Biden said in the statement announcing the sanctions, which also thanked Scholz “for his close partnership and continued dedication to holding Russia accountable for its actions.”
It’s more evidence of the coordination among allies as they shift from an assiduous effort to deter Putin to one aimed at containing his ongoing attack on Ukraine. And it follows the Biden administration’s vow to impose additional measures against Moscow as the invasion proceeds.
The pipeline project has been especially problematic. Germany and other parts of Europe badly need the gas, but U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that becoming overly reliant on Russian fuel would allow Moscow to “weaponize” energy supplies.
Germany’s decision on Tuesday to suspend the project showed self-sacrifice that U.S. officials appear eager to endorse, and mirrors Washington’s own willingness to absorb any effects on consumers from rising gas prices and the political price the administration could pay.
Until now, Biden had been resigned to the project — which was nearing completion when he took office. The White House, in fact, had issued a waiver to block the congressionally mandated sanctions they are now likely to impose.
For weeks now, conversations between Washington and Berlin have focused on a joint approach to sanctions, including the 764-mile pipeline to Germany’s Baltic coast.
Outlining the administration’s initial response to Russia, deputy national security advisor Daleep Singh declared Tuesday that the project, long sought by Putin in a bid to exert more control over Europe’s energy resources, “will not become operational.”
He added: “That’s an $11 billion investment in a prized gas pipeline controlled by Russia that will now go to waste, and it sacrifices what would have been a cash cow for Russia’s coffers.”
Republicans, many of whom have criticized Biden’s first tranche of sanctions against Russia as too measured, have called for months for the administration to lift its waiver on the Nord Stream 2 sanctions, with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas blocking votes on the White House’s diplomatic nominees in protest.
Congress approved the sanctions against the project’s parent company, also named Nord Stream 2, a Swiss firm whose parent is the Russian gas conglomerate Gazprom, and its chief executive, Matthias Warnig, first in 2019 and then a broader sanctions package in 2020. But the Biden administration blocked them, citing national security issues related to both Russia and Germany, a key ally.
