Senate approves military budget with sanctions against N Stream-2

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (PRIME) -- The U.S. Senate on December 11 approved the military budget that includes expansion of sanctions against Russia’s Nord Stream-2 and TurkStream natural gas pipelines, with the overwhelming majority of senators – 84 – voting for the budget and only 13 rejecting it.

Besides the expansion, the U.S. $740 billion budget includes further delivery of weapons to Ukraine, prohibition of cooperation of the Russian and U.S. military, sanctions against Turkey for Ankara’s purchase of C-400 anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia, and other measures.

U.S. President Donald Trump previously said that he would veto the budget because he is dissatisfied with some measures, but support at the Senate and the House of Representatives means that it would bypass the president’s veto.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages construction of two lines of a natural gas pipeline with an annual capacity of up to 55 billion cubic meters, running from the Russian shore to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Russian gas giant Gazprom is implementing the project together with Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall, Royal Dutch Shell, Austria’s OMV, and France’s Engie.

Offshore contractor Allseas stopped work on the Nord Stream-2 in December 2019 after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a defense budget envisaging spending on counteraction against Russia in various areas, including sanctions against the project.

However, Pipe-laying vessel Fortuna started laying pipelines of the unfinished part of Nord Stream-2 in the German waters on December 11.

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