Office of External Relations
October 5, 2020
Nord Stream 2 would reroute Russian gas destined for Europe around Ukraine, depriving Kyiv of much-needed transit fees. 
WASHINGTON -- Members of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus are concerned a U.S. bill to expand sanctions on a Russian natural-gas pipeline to Europe could be dropped from the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The bill, known as the Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Clarification Act (PEESCA), would widen the scope of sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany to include any individual or entity providing insurance or welding services for the project.

PEESCA has been included in the NDAA defense spending bill passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate earlier this year with slight variations. The Senate bill would also sanction any company that provides testing or inspection services for the pipeline. Congress is currently reconciling differences between the Senate and House versions of the NDAA and could be finalized in the coming days. [The work at this point is at the staff level and it is hard to believe there are staff who would think it appropriate to remove the sanctions. It is harder to believe that if the provision is removed that action will stand when Members return to the process after the election. RAM]

Members of the Ukraine Caucus have written to congressional leaders to urge them to “include language” in the final version of the NDAA that clarifies the new sanctions, indicating they are concerned PEESCA could be taken out or watered down despite bipartisan support for the bill, according to a letter obtained by RFE/RL.

“We strongly urge you to include PEESCA in the final conferenced FY21 NDAAbill. This will not only strengthen European energy security and U.S. nationalsecurity, but also demonstrate the U.S. resolute commitment to Ukraine’s democratic future, free from malign Russian influence,” their October 27 letter said. [The Ukraine Caucus is absolutely correct and its members should be applauded and supported. RAM]



The letter was signed by the Ukraine Caucus’s four co-chairs: Marcy Kaptur (Democrat-Ohio), Mike Quigley (Democrat-Illinois), Brian Fitzpatrick (Republican-Pennsylvania), and Andy Harris (Republican-Maryland).
Sanctions against Nord Stream 2 have been a source of friction in U.S.-German relations, which has soured noticeably under President Donald Trump.
But there are now growing calls in Germany to halt the project following the poisoning of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny with a military-grade nerve agent in August. [I am not sure Germany is as supportive of the pipeline as it once was. Indeed, there are also likely undiscussed military consequences to the completion that argue against its completion. RAM]
 
The NDAA passed by Congress last year included a bill that sanctioned any vessel building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, forcing a Swiss-based company to exit the project shortly before its completion.
 
Russia is now seeking to use its own vessels to get around those existing sanctions and finish the $10 billion pipeline. PEESCA would hinder any Russian ship’s ability to receive the services necessary to carry out the remaining work.
 
Nord Stream 2 would reroute Russian gas destined for Europe around Ukraine, depriving Kyiv of much-needed transit fees.
 
Russia initially expected to complete the pipeline in early 2020. After the sanctions on vessels were passed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hoped the pipeline would be completed by early 2021.
 
 
 
The parenthetical views expressed here are Mr. McConnell's and do not necessarily represent those of either FOUN or the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation.
"
Bob McConnell
Coordinator, External Relations
U.S.-Ukraine Foundation’s Friends of Ukraine Network

Robert A. McConnell is a co-founder of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and Coordinator of External Relations for the Foundation’s Friends of Ukraine Network. He is Principal of R.A. McConnell and Associates. Previously, he has served as head of the Government Advocacy Practice at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Vice President – Washington for CBS, Inc, and Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice during the Reagan Administration. rmcconnell@usukraine.org
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