Lankford targets Russia’s Nord Stream II pipeline

 

Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined John Barrasso (R-WY) and a group of 40 senators to send a letter this week criticizing the Biden Administration for failing to follow the law and impose sanctions on entities involved in the Nord Stream II pipeline.

The Nord Stream II pipeline would carry natural gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. If completed, the pipeline would make American allies and partners in Europe more susceptible to Moscow’s coercion and malign influence.

 

In their letter, the senators highlight how Congress has passed several pieces of bipartisan legislation imposing sanctions on this project. They request that the Biden administration utilize all of the tools at its disposal to implement additional sanctions immediately, especially the most recent round of sanctions that both houses of Congress urgently and repeatedly passed last year.

The failure of the administration to identify and impose new sanctions signals its willingness to allow President Putin to gain a stranglehold over Europe’s gas supplies and increase its geopolitical leverage. We call on the administration to correct its misguided actions by quickly and fully implementing the sanctions mandated by US law,” wrote the senators.

The following senators joined Lankford and Barrasso in signing onto the letter: Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Kennedy (R-LA), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rob Portman (R-OH), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Todd Young (R-IN).