VIENNA (Sputnik) – Last week, the US Senate approved, by an overwhelming majority, a measure that would expand restrictions imposed on Russia and limit the US president’s ability to lift sanctions. The United States will be able to introduce new restrictions against people investing in Russia's export gas pipelines under the bill. US senators, in particular, stated that Washington would exert efforts to resist the construction of the Nord Stream 2 project.
"I find it extremely disappointing and worth noticing that last week the US Senate decided to severe its sanctions as for all the energy companies working with Russia. This is about specific issues. We are constructing a new pipeline, which will be able to compensate the decreasing gas production in the North Sea," Kern said, while speaking at the Austrian World Summit.
Kern added that he considered the US move as unacceptable, since "Europe should decide on its own, how to fulfill its energy needs."
On June 14, Kern and German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel issued a joint statement saying that Washington's move targeting companies working with the Nord Stream 2 project could harm the relations between the European Union and the United States.
Nord Stream 2 project presupposes the construction of two gas pipelines with a combined annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas. The new pipeline is planned to be laid along Nord Stream pipeline route from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to a hub in Germany.
