Blinken Justifies Nord Stream 2 Decision, but Says Sanctions Waiver Can Be Revoked

Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the State Department’s decision to waive sanctions against the company behind Nord Stream 2 (see 2105200055), telling a House committee that the sanctions would’ve done little to stop the nearly completed pipeline from being finished and would've only damaged U.S. relations with Germany. But Blinken also said the agency may be willing to rescind the waiver and impose the sanctions.

Blinken, speaking during a June 7 House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, said the Russian pipeline was already 90% complete by the time the Biden administration took office. Even so, he said, the administration sanctioned more entities involved in the project “than had ever been sanctioned under” the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act.

But the State Department decided not to sanction Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO because it would not “have changed anything in terms of physical completion.” He also said the sanctions would have created tension between the U.S. and Germany, which has helped fund the project.

“So the worst of all worlds [would have been] a pipeline that's completed, which we continue to believe is a fundamentally bad idea, and a poisoned well with one of our closest partners, Germany,” Blinken said. There also would have been “no incentives for Germany to actually work with us to mitigate and correct some of the damage that this is likely to do.” But because the U.S. waived the sanctions, Germany “has come to the table and we are actively engaged with them to look at what can, should, and I believe must be done,” Blinken said.

More than 20 House Republicans have criticized the sanctions waiver, saying the move contradicted the U.S.’s strong opposition to the project (see 2106020004). But Blinken said the U.S. remains firmly opposed to the pipeline. “Under the law, we issued a national interest waiver,” Blinken said. “That waiver can be rescinded.”