US drops threat to block Russian gas pipelines in deal with Germany

The announcement follows Chancellor Angela Merkel’s meetings in Washington last week with Biden, who said during the visit that the two leaders agreed they were “united in our belief that Russia should not to be able to use the energy as a weapon “.

“I had, as you know, a very, very fruitful discussion with Angela Merkel,” Biden said Wednesday evening. “She and the German government are working on commitments that suggest that if in fact Russia is careful to deliberately inflict pain on Ukraine and other countries, they will respond.”

White House officials said on Wednesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who urged Congress to try to stop the project with sanctions, would surrender in August.

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz called the deal with Germany a “generational geopolitical victory” for Russian President Vladimir V. Putin and “a disaster for the United States and our allies.”

Mr Cruz, whose Texas voters include key energy exporters, delayed confirmation from several Biden administration officials in recent months in his insistence that the United States prevent the completion of the pipelines. “President Biden is defying US law and has surrendered completely to Putin,” he said in a statement. “In decades, Russian dictators will still reap billions of dollars from Biden’s gift, and Europe will still be subject to Russian energy blackmail.”

New Hampshire Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen said she welcomed diplomatic efforts with key European allies. But, she said, “I have long argued that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline should not be completed as it allows the Kremlin to expand its nefarious influence throughout Eastern Europe, threatens security economic development of our European partners and endangers our global stability. “

“I still believe in it,” she said.

State Department officials bristled at the idea that the Biden administration had capitulated and noted that US sanctions related to the project had been imposed on 19 entities since Mr Biden took office, up from two during the tenure of President Donald J. Trump.