WASHINGTON. President Biden said Wednesday he would impose economic sanctions on the company behind the new gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, the latest in a series of sanctions that the White House promised would continue if Russia escalated its fighting against Ukraine.
Mr. Biden’s move came after administration officials warned that a full-scale military attack could be imminent. But it also came as a turning point for the president after he lifted sanctions on the gas pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2, last year, despite calls from both Democrats and Republicans to halt the energy project.
“These steps are another part of our initial tranche of sanctions in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine,” Mr. Biden said in a statement Wednesday. “As I have made clear, we will not hesitate to take further steps if Russia continues to escalate.”
Administration officials said Mr. Biden decided it was necessary to move forward on the sanctions after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Tuesday that he would suspend certification of the pipeline in response to Moscow’s order to cross the border into breakaway areas in the country’s east. Ukraine, which the Kremlin recognized as an independent state.
The new sanctions against Gazprom’s subsidiary, a Russian company controlled by the Kremlin, are part of a joint effort by NATO allies to stop what Mr. Biden called “the start of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.” “.
On Wednesday, the European Union also announced new sanctions against Russia’s defense minister, President Vladimir V. Putin’s chief of staff, and senior Russians in the media world. On Tuesday, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on two Russian banks and a handful of the country’s elite and made it impossible for Russia to raise funding in Western markets. The administration has said it retains the possibility of even tougher sanctions if Mr. Putin escalates the conflict by trying to seize more territory in Ukraine, or even the entire country.
The White House had not previously imposed sanctions on the company behind the pipeline because it was unclear whether those measures would halt the project, which was already 90 percent complete when Mr. Biden took office, according to Ned Price, White’s spokesman. Houses. State Department.
But on Tuesday, Mr. Scholz gave Mr. Biden an opportunity when he suspended the project’s certification.
“So, working with the Germans,” Mr. Price said, “we have made this an $11 billion prize investment that is now a piece of steel lying at the bottom of the sea.”
Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, called the action against the pipeline part of an attempt to stop the armed conflict.
“What we are trying to do is to prevent a war, to prevent the destruction of the Ukrainian people,” Ms. Psaki said. Speaking of Mr Putin, she said: “We’re going to continue to make it clear that if he continues to escalate, so will we.”
But there was little sign that the initial sanctions imposed this week discouraged Mr. Putin from moving forward in Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon issued a grim assessment, saying that 80 percent of the 190,000 Russian troops and separatist forces in or near Ukraine were in combat-ready positions.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has caused tensions between Germany and the United States for many years. Germany has long been hesitant to jeopardize its energy trade with Russia; Last month, Mr. Scholz dodged questions about whether he agreed with Mr. Biden’s assertion that the project would be halted if Russia invaded Ukraine.
Nevertheless, Mr. Biden’s move was welcomed by Democrats and Republicans, who throughout the year called for him to quickly punish Russia and stop the pipeline.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday withdrew his objections to 17 of Mr. Biden’s candidates, many of whom were appointed to State Department positions after the president sanctioned the company behind the pipeline.
Mr. Cruz used the Senate process to slow down the pace at which the House could approve Mr. Biden by demanding that the administration impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2.
“Allowing Putin’s Nord Stream 2 to go online would result in multiple cascading and acute security crises for the United States and our European allies for generations to come,” Mr Cruz said.
But Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman said the initial economic punishment was “an important first step, but not far enough.”
“In order to create an effective deterrent, it is necessary to extend tougher sanctions to other financial institutions and introduce export controls,” Mr. Portman said.
Mr. Biden has previously said the pipeline is too advanced to be stopped. “Nord Stream is 99 percent ready,” he said last year. “The idea that something will be said or done to stop it is impossible.” The pipeline was completed last year, but the approval process for the project has stalled.
Duleep Singh, deputy national security adviser, said on Tuesday that shutting down the project would sacrifice “what would be a cash cow for the Russian treasury.”
“It’s not just about money,” Mr. Singh said. “This decision will loosen Russia’s geostrategic chokehold in Europe through its gas supplies, and is a major turning point in the world’s energy independence from Russia.”
The State Department said Wednesday that Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman met with senior European diplomats to coordinate economic sanctions against Russia.
Mr. Price reiterated that the United States is still seeking a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis, in which Russia has recognized the independence of two enclaves that are part of Ukraine and sent more Russian troops to those areas. Mr. Putin has amassed troops on three sides of Ukraine, and US officials say a full-scale invasion could happen at any time.
Cathy Edmondson contributed reporting.