Companies in Germany face "a significant risk of sanctions" for working on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from northwestern Russia to northern Germany under the Baltic Sea, Germany newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported, according to Deutsche Welle.
The threat came from U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who seeks to curb Russia's control of Europe's energy supply as a "clear message of U.S. policy," according to the report.
"We emphasize that companies involved in Russian energy exports are taking part in something that could prompt a significant risk of sanctions," Grenell wrote to the companies.
The Washington Post reports that on Monday, embassy spokesman Joseph Giordono-Schultz said, "The U.S. Government has been clear that we agree with the European Parliament, the U.S. House and nearly 20 European countries in opposition to the Russian Nord Stream 2 project."
He continued: "Companies are free to work on [Nord Stream 2], and we are free to make clear that working on it could disqualify them from also working on U.S. projects."
Ukraine’s national oil and gas company, Naftogaz, backed Grenell Monday, tweeting: “Nord Stream 2 is a real threat to the Baltic states.”
The policy was signaled in November by the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.
"We have not deployed the full set of tools yet that could significantly undermine if not outright stop the project," Amb. Gordon Sondland said, according to Reuters.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.