The U.S. Senate failed to pass a bill Thursday imposing sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which was being promoted by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a day after Democrats introduced their own bill.
In the vote, 55 senators voted in favor and 44 against, while the condition for the passage of the bill was the collection of 60 positive votes. In the Senate there is an equal distribution of seats (50-50) with the right to a majority vote (+1) to be exercised by Vice President Kamala Harris, making it difficult to gather the required number of votes.
The vote lasted about seven hours as Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Sumer considered options for electoral reform.
Republican Sen. Robert Menendez won the support of several Democratic senators, including President Joe Biden, for an alternative bill he introduced Wednesday. The bill provides for sweeping sanctions against high-ranking Russian government and military officials and banking organizations in the event of Russia’s involvement in hostilities against Ukraine.
Democrat Sen. Jin Sahin, who initially backed his Nord Stream 2 sanctions bill with Cruz, finally voted against it, saying it runs the risk of splitting unity in Washington and Europe over the Russian attack on Ukraine.
She said Cruz’s legislation could be a “wedge” between the United States and its allies, especially Germany.
The United States, as well as some European countries, including Ukraine and Poland, have opposed the pipeline, as it would deprive Kiev of energy transit revenues but also increase Russia’s influence over Europe, where gas prices are rising. .
Cruz said the vote showed a Senate majority in favor of swift action on the pipeline, which is being promoted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and led by Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom.
“Only immediate sanctions can change Putin’s calculations, stop an invasion of Ukraine and remove the existential threat posed by Nord Stream 2,” Cruz said.
A handful of Democrats, including Senators Tammy Baldwin, Mark Kelly and Rafael Warnock, backed Cruz’s bill, which would sanction Nord Stream 2 AG, which builds the pipeline, within 15 days of its passage.
Source: AMPE
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Source From: Capital
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