Join Hudson Institute Senior Fellows Rebeccah L. Heinrichs and Peter Rough and Senior Analyst at The Polish Institute of International Affairs, Bartosz Bieliszczuk, for a discussion on the Biden administration’s decision to lift U.S. sanctions connected to the Russian Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline and the concerns of U.S. allies across Central Europe and the European Union.
President Biden announced on May 25 that he will waive some sanctions involving the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a Russian pipeline that will send natural gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany. He said he was waving the sanctions in the interest of “rebuilding relationships with our allies and partners in Europe,” despite the sanctionable activities committed by the Switzerland-based company Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO, Matthias Warnig, a Putin ally and former officer in East Germany’s Stasi. The pipeline’s construction is nearly complete but had been blocked with the imposition of U.S. congressional sanctions passed without a presidential waiver.
While the Biden administration’s decision was greeted with praise from German and Russian officials, it has also elicited condemnations from allies in Poland and Ukraine, and has faced bipartisan criticism from U.S. Members of Congress. As President Biden prepares for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16, his decision and the fate of the controversial pipeline looms large. Please join Hudson Institute for this important and timely discussion.