Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee called for Germany to end Nord Stream 2 over Russia’s threat of invading Ukraine.
Russia has amassed a significant military presence on its border with Ukraine, and it has been there for weeks, though the Biden administration said Tuesday that an attack could happen “at any point” and the group of Republicans believes the pipeline could be the key to preventing an invasion.
“Now it has to be said that many of our allies have been standing with Ukraine, but one ally in particular has not, and that’s the nation of Germany,” Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said during a Wednesday press conference. “Germany continues to insist that Nord Stream should go forward. They refuse to be specific about the kinds of sanctions and penalties Vladimir Putin should face if he invades [Ukraine].”
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The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is routed to allow Russia to send national gas to Germany without passing through Ukraine, depriving them of collecting transit fees. The pipeline has been constructed but is not yet certified.
The GOP senators reiterated Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desire to see the pipeline reach activation gives the West leverage.
Sen. Rob Portman, who was among a bipartisan delegation that traveled to Ukraine and met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that the group “want[s] Germany to step up and to ensure that we do not see this pipeline be completed” because “it not only creates this dependency by Europe on Russia, it also hurts Ukraine in a very fundamental way.”
The Germans warned earlier this week that the pipeline could be nixed if Russia invades Ukraine.
“It is clear that there will be a high price to pay and that everything will have to be discussed should there be a military intervention in Ukraine,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a press conference.
The Senate last week voted against legislation that would have imposed heavy sanctions on the company behind a pipeline. The bill, sponsored by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, failed on a near party-line vote while the Biden administration opposed it. It did receive some Democratic support.
Sen. Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced a bill backed by the White House that would impose sanctions on Russia and provide military assistance to Ukraine if Russia escalates hostile actions against its neighbor.
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The New Jersey Democrat isn’t the only legislator in the upper chamber to propose such legislation. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio introduced a separate bill last week, and if passed, it would impose personal sanctions on Putin and other Russian leaders if their troops further invade Ukraine.
“I think passing something is better than passing nothing. I think passing Menendez instead of Rubio is not as good as passing Rubio. That said, I think if we can get the two parties together, and we ought to work on it now, and we ought to work on it hard, and we ought to work on it fast,” Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said at the press conference.
