US approves sanctions on Russia-EU gas pipeline

The US Senate has approved a defense bill that will impose sanctions on companies working on Russia’s gas pipeline connecting to Germany.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly in favour of the bill that is called the National Defense Authorization Act on Tuesday as it sees it as a threat from Russia.

The US sees the pipeline as a way for the Russian government to create an energy dependency from Europe and therefore exert more control over the bloc.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has joined Russian criticism of the sanctions, saying last week that “European energy policy must be decided in Europe, not the US”.

The US is set to impose the sanctions no later than 60 days after it is passed although it could be too late by then since the pipeline is reportedly being finished.

Also, the bill still needs to be sent to be signed by President Donald Trump so it becomes a law.

It is still unclear when the pipeline is expected to be completed but the aim is to launch it in mid-2020. At the end of October, Nord Stream 2 said the pipeline was 87% complete.

The pipeline is Russia-led, under the aegis of the country’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom, but has been part-financed by several European energy companies, including Shell, OMV and Engie.

All of these companies could be affected in theory by the sanctions.