The State Department, including Senior Adviser for Global Energy Security Amos Hochstein, had worked behind the scenes to help convince Germany to announce it would suspend the approval, an administration official told POLITICO earlier in the day. After Scholz announced the suspension, the White House felt that the sanctions would not antagonize the U.S. ally, the official said.
A Nord Stream 2 AG spokesperson did not reply to an email seeking comment.
Cruz said on Wednesday he will withdraw the holds he placed on Biden nominees to the State Department as a protest to the lack of sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and Warnig.
“President Biden made the right decision today. Allowing Putin’s Nord Stream 2 to come online would have created multiple, cascading, and acute security crises for the United States and our European allies for generations to come,” Cruz said in a press release. “Today’s announcement is critical to preventing such scenarios.”
The sanctions come as the White House warns Russia could attack Kyiv in the coming days. On Wednesday Ukraine was barraged with cyber attacks, and the Latvian prime minister said Russia had moved troops and tanks into eastern Ukraine.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment. Deputy National Economic Council Director Daleep Singh said on Tuesday the White House had coordinated with Germany’s government and that Nord Stream 2 “will not become operational.”
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