The United States Is Ready to Lift Sanctions from Nord Stream 2 Subject to Certain Conditions

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Washington is waiting for proposals from Germany that will eliminate its fears about the new gas pipeline. This is about a package solution to the problem, according to the Handelsblatt newspaper, citing the White House sources. The new US administration, headed by President Joe Biden, is ready, under certain conditions, to lift sanctions against the new German-Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Washington expects a proposal from the German side, which will take into account US concerns about the controversial German-Russian project, the newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Tuesday, February 2, citing sources in the White House. "The Germans must put a package offer on the table, otherwise they will not solve the problems with Nord Stream 2," the publication quotes one of the American officials as saying. According to Handelsblatt, Washington is interested, in particular, in the proposal to link Nord Stream 2 with a mechanism that would block it if Moscow tries to put pressure on Ukraine by cutting gas supplies. Gas pipeline sanctions According to Washington, the issues of the Russian gas transit via the gas pipeline system in Ukraine should also be renegotiated. Under President Donald Trump's administration, the United States imposed sanctions at the end of 2019 to disrupt the completion of a new German-Russian gas pipeline. The former administration introduced additional penalties against the Russian pipe-laying vessel on the day of President Biden's inauguration. The United States claims that the new gas pipeline will increase Germany's dependence on Russian gas and damage Ukraine. Critics, in turn, point out that the United States, opposing Nord Stream 2, only wants to ensure the export of its own liquefied gas to Europe at the maximum price. The Minister of State at the German Foreign Ministry, Niels Annen, in an interview with Handelsblatt spoke in favor of a compromise with the United States. "The previous administration in Washington was absolutely not interested in negotiating. If they are willing to negotiate now, then this is a political opportunity that we should use," Annen explained.