A briefing between the State Department and Congress staff on Vladimir Putin’s Russia-Germany gas pipeline was strained this week, with Biden officials dismissing questions as to why they did not move faster and more aggressively. its completion ceases.
- Biden officials he also denied negotiating with the Germans on a potential side deal to allow the pipeline to be completed.
Why does it matter: As we reported earlier this week, some allies are worried that Biden is shaky in Putin’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and the fight is a significant test of whether the new president’s harsh rhetoric against Russia will be matched by action.
- Russian opponents, including senior officials in the Ukrainian and Polish governments, are worried that Biden does not want to antagonize Angela Merkel and will not bring serious costs to the Germans.
- And members of Congress – both Republicans and Democrats – were overwhelmed by a report the Biden State Department recently sent to Congress, which targeted only a Russian sanctions ship. The Trump administration has already sanctioned that ship, Fortuna.
Behind the scenes: The first call between senior State Department officials and Republican and Democratic national security staff in the House and Senate took place on Tuesday.
- Tuesday’s call was filed and took place from a secure room. A source in the appeal and two other sources informed of the conversation said the question focused on why the Biden administration did not target a larger number of sanctions vessels – given, attendees said, that maritime tracking clearly shows a number of additional ships are working on the pipeline.
- The call continued for about half an hour until the line suddenly fell dead at the end of the State Department. While some Republicans on appeal initially thought they were closed, the State Department said this was a technical issue.
Then, on Thursday at 2 p.m., State Department officials regrouped for a second briefing, this time unclassified, with senior officials from the offices of the House and Senate.
- This call was more controversial, according to three sources who participated. Increasing hostility came from Republican officials who were unhappy with the answers. Biden officials seemed to be trying to avoid conflicts politely.
At one point during the call, a member of the Republican Senate asked Biden officials why they did not sanction Nord Stream 2 AG – the company that builds the pipeline.
- State Department officials responded that they would not discuss specific entities and that they were still investigating the facts and compiling the evidence.
“We’re talking about the company that owns Nord Stream 2,” The Republican official said sharply, according to the three sources in the appeal. “They’re on their website right now and they’re identifying themselves as the company that is planning, building and operating the pipeline.”
- “You have established that there was a sanctionable activity related to the pipeline,” the official continued. “What kind of information should you get to personally confirm that the company that runs the operation you just sanctioned is engaged in a sanctionable activity?”
State Department officials challenged that the general tone of the call was hostile and claimed that they later heard from congressional staff who described the briefing as useful.
- They argued that it could take a long time to determine which entities could be sanctioned and reiterated that the Biden administration intended to use all available tools to stop the completion of the pipeline.
During the call, Molly Montgomery, the Under-Secretary-General for European and Eurasian Affairs has denied that the US is negotiating a potential side deal with Germany to allow the pipeline to continue.
- Reuters reported on Friday, citing a German government spokeswoman, that “there is an exchange between the US government and Germany over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to bring Russian gas to Europe.” The report did not provide further details.
- State Department officials argued that the word “exchange” should not be construed as a negotiation and that the Biden administration, during normal diplomatic talks, had concerns about the conduct of the Germans.
A senior Senate assistant on appeal He also defended the Biden administration against allegations of slow and light movement, saying there was bipartisan opposition to the pipeline, but the administration “must ensure that any sanction meets a standard of evidence that can stand up to the court”.
- “Time is short and I’m under the gun,” the assistant said, “but I think he’s trying to avoid the clown car approach by the last administration that did things like sanction the Russian company Rusal, but had to do it back after they almost world aluminum market collapsed “.
- “Measuring twice to reduce once is always a solid policy,” he added, “especially when there is a sense of urgency to get it right.”
- Yes but: The Trump administration removed Rusal from the sanctions list only after a blacklisted oligarch and Putin’s friend, Oleg Deripaska, pledged to divest a majority stake in the company.
Members of the GOP Congress asked Biden officials to commit to updating the report they have already given to Congress with new entities that should be sanctioned, but State Department officials have not committed to do so.
- One of the Biden officials told congressional staff that if they had more information about the entities involved in the pipeline, they should say what it is. Earlier this month, bipartisan members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken naming the suspects.
- In the recently defended bill, Congress mandated that the administration sanction a wide range of activities involved in the pipeline.
The whole picture: Pipeline construction was halted during the Trump administration after Congress imposed sanctions on a 2019 bill and top Trump officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, issued aggressive threats.
- But the Russians resumed major construction on Nord Stream 2 after Biden took over.
Bottom line: The pipeline is more than 90% complete and could be completed by the summer without major intervention to stop it.