President Joe Biden on Wednesday he announced he was sanctioning the company’s building Russiathe Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which Germany stopped certification on Tuesday – a coordinated response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Today I ordered my administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate employees,” the president said in a statement. “These steps are another part of our initial tranche of sanctions in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.”
The president also warned: “We will not hesitate to take further steps if Russia continues to escalate.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Wednesday afternoon that Nord Stream 2 was a “reward investment of $ 11 billion, which is now steel at the bottom of the sea.”
At a briefing Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki did not say whether the project could be resurrected in the future.
“Well, not only has the German chancellor announced that he is not moving forward, we have also announced additional sanctions and this is not moving at the moment, no,” she said in response to a question from Peter Alexander of NBC.
When he asked if it was done “forever”, she replied: “Peter is dead at the bottom of the sea right now.”
President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he was sanctioning the company that is building Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, for which Germany suspended certification on Tuesday.
Nord Stream 2 was completed in September and would double the amount of Russian gas going to Germany
When White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked at Wednesday’s briefing if Nord Stream 2 was built “forever,” she said, “He’s dead at the bottom of the sea right now.”
“I will not be ahead of where we are in the process, this is not happening, it is not moving forward, it has not acted for some time, so this is where it stands and this is all a result of the diplomatic commitment and leadership of the president and his commitment with Chancellor Scholz, “she said.
When new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the White House earlier this month, Biden told a joint news conference that they were one step closer to the pipeline as Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Ukraine with a build-up of troops.
However, Scholz would not call Nord Stream 2 by name.
This week, when Putin declared separatist territories in eastern Ukraine “independent” and introduced “peacekeeping” forces, the United States and its European allies began sanctioning Russia.
The White House said Tuesday that among the first “tranches” of sanctions are sanctions for the complete blocking of two Russian banks, sanctions against the Russian elite and their families and sanctions that will prevent external financing of the country’s public debt.
Also Tuesday, Scholz announced that Germany would not certify the pipeline.
Construction of Nord Stream 2 was completed in September.
Nord Stream 2 AG is registered in Switzerland, but its parent company is the Russian state gas company Gazprom.
Nord Stream 2 would double the amount of Russian gas going to Germany.
“Through his actions, President Putin has given the world a huge incentive to move away from Russian gas to other forms of energy,” Biden said in a statement.
“I want to thank Chancellor Scholz for his close partnership and continued commitment to holding Russia accountable for its actions,” he said.
Biden has received rare praise from Republican Senator Ted Cruz for his initial move to lift sanctions on the bill.
“President Biden made the right decision today,” the Texas Republican said in a statement.
Cruz called on Biden to “close the sanctions”, which Biden did later Wednesday afternoon.
Regarding Biden’s actions, Cruz announced that he would unblock the candidates for the Biden administration in the State Department, which he holds in the Senate.
Cruz’s further comments came after former President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Putin’s move to declare Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk districts “independent.”
Biden receives rare praise from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for his initial move to lift sanctions
“I came in yesterday and there was a TV screen and I said, ‘That’s brilliant,'” Trump said. “Putin declares a large part of Ukraine – from Ukraine – Putin declares it independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.
“I said, ‘How smart is that?'” The former US president said continue. “And he will come in and be a peacemaker.” This is the strongest peaceful force … We can use this on our southern border. This is the strongest peacekeeping force I have ever seen. There were more army tanks than I saw. They will keep the peace well.
“No, but think about it.” Here is a man who is very understanding, “Trump continued. “I know him very well.” Very, very, very good. If I were in office, even unthinkable, this would never have happened.
Trump added: “But here’s a man who says, you know, ‘I’m going to declare much of Ukraine independent,’ he uses the word ‘independent’ and ‘we’re going to go in and out.’ and we will help keep the peace. You have to say that it is quite understandable. And do you know what Biden’s response was? There was no answer. They didn’t have one for that. No, it’s very sad. Very sad.’
Trump also called Biden “a man who has no idea what he’s doing.”
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki responded to Trump at a news briefing on Tuesday.
“As a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin and his military strategy, which I think is what happened there,” Psaki said at a briefing on Tuesday when asked to respond to comments made earlier in Trump. The day.
She pointed out the comments Trump reportedly did to the leaders of the G7 in 2018, when the former president already said that Crimea, which was annexed by Russia after the invasion in 2014, is part of Russia because everyone there speaks Russian.
He said Trump had “expressed openness” to lifting sanctions on Russia over the 2014 invasion.
“So there are a little different tactics, a little different approach, and that’s probably why President Biden, not his predecessor, managed to unite the world and the world community in taking steps against Russian aggression,” Psaki said.
Most Republicans have said they want to see Russia punished for what the White House now calls an “invasion” of Ukraine – after Putin announced Monday that he would consider two Russian-backed separatist territories independent of Ukraine and ordered troops there under cover. of “peacekeeping functions”.
Asked if there were fears that comments like Trump’s could lead to Ukraine’s support becoming a more party issue among the American public, she pointed to the Republican Party.
“You know, I think it depends on the members of the Republican Party to make the decision, to make the decision,” she told DailyMail.com.
In contrast to the traditional hawk and pigeon roles of both political parties – with Republicans historically more hawkish – Republicans were less inclined to want the United States to play a major role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict by 10 points.
“There is a long history, decades of history of which President Biden was a part, when he was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, of defending the efforts of any country to occupy the territory of another country, of defending the efforts of the United States to gather global support against inappropriate and illegal actions by another country, “she continued. “There is a long history of this, not in a partisan way – in a partisan way.”
“And it certainly depends on the Republicans to … determine,” she added.
New A study by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs published on Wednesday, Americans have little appetite for the United States to play an important role in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
But away from the traditional hawk and pigeon roles of both political parties – with Republicans historically more hawkish – Republicans were less likely to want the United States to play a major role with 10 points.
The survey found that a total of 26% of older Americans said they wanted the United States to play a major role – with 32% of Democrats in the group and 22% of Republicans.