His decision to lift sanctions against the Russian-German company that builds the gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, US President Joe Biden has said that the project is almost complete and that continuing to impose sanctions would damage US relations with Europe.
Biden, who is preparing for his first visit to the Old Continent and his first summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin next month, insisted speaking to reporters at the White House that he was opposed to the pipeline construction project from its conception and design, yet decided not to pursue sanctions because The project was “almost complete” when he came to power in January.
Asked why he allows Germany and Russia to complete the project, as broadcast by AMPE, the Biden he replied “because it is almost completely completed (…) and it is not me who allows Germany to do something or not. (…) If I imposed sanctions now, I think that would be counterproductive to our relations with Europe. “
The Democratic resident of the White House, who wants to create a united front against both Russia and China, seeks to restore Washington’s relations with Berlin and other European countries that were hit during the days of his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump.
Joe Biden also noted that Germany is aware of his concerns.
“They know how I feel and I hope we can figure out how to handle it from now on,” he said as he left the US capital for a short trip to his state of Delaware.
The Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel said yesterday that he expects further talks with the US on the pipeline project.
Gazprom and its partners have been in a race against time to complete the project and start transporting gas across the Baltic. The pipeline, which is 95 percent complete, bypasses Ukraine, depriving it of supplies for the passage of gas through its territory and potentially hurting its efforts to counter what Kiev and Western countries call Russian aggression.

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