Joe Biden issues executive order to impose sanctions on Russian energy projects

US President Joseph Biden issued a decree allowing the country’s authorities to impose new sanctions against Russia’s energy projects, including the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The details of the decree are set out in letter President to Congress.

“The decree concerns certain Russian energy projects, through which Russia intends to expand its influence on European energy resources, which could weaken the energy security of Europe, including Ukraine and the eastern flank of NATO and the EU,” the letter says.

Thanks to the adoption of the decree, it will be possible to block the property of foreign persons assisting in the construction of the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Biden said. He gave US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen the authority to make appropriate decisions after consulting with the country’s Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Immediately after the issuance of the decree, the Department of State reported on the imminent imposition of sanctions against one Russian vessel and two Russian citizens involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2.

Earlier in the US State Department statedthat following the talks, Germany pledged to support the extension of the agreement between Kiev and Moscow on the transit of Russian gas. The United States is seeking an extension of the agreement for ten years after 2024. The State Department also said that Germany has pledged to create, within the framework of an agreement with the United States, a “Green Fund” in the amount of $ 1 billion to help Ukraine. These funds will be used to diversify the sources of its energy resources, writes “New Newspaper”.

The implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project in Washington was called a “fait accompli” after Joe Biden waived further sanctions against Nord Stream. Restrictions were left only for the ships and companies involved in the project.

Nord Stream 2 envisages the construction of two strings of a gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany. Now only 15 km of the pipeline remains to be built, Vladimir Putin said on 20 August.