The US has called on companies to withdraw from the Nord Stream 2

The US government has called on companies to withdraw from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project and threatened new sanctions. "The State Department reaffirms its warning that any company involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is at risk of US sanctions and should stop work on the pipeline immediately," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday. He added that Washington is monitoring efforts to complete the project and evaluating information about companies "that are likely to be involved". Nord Stream 2 is, according to Blinken, "a bad deal for Germany, Ukraine and our Central and Eastern European partners." "As several US governments have made clear, this pipeline is a Russian geopolitical project to divide Europe and weaken Europe's energy security." Blinken pointed to sanctions against the Nord Stream project, which the US Congress approved by a large majority. He stressed that the administration of President Joe Biden will enforce these sanction laws. The US has so far imposed sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 only against the Russian company KVT-RUS, which operates the Fortuna ship laying the pipeline. These sanctions were announced in January by the administration of former President Donald Trump. In the February report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no new sanctions or threats of sanctions appeared after the change of administration under Blinken's leadership. Republicans in Congress have expressed concern that the Biden government is not decisive enough to stop the pipeline.