Senate Rejects Nord Stream 2 Sanctions Bill - WSJ

The administration has endorsed an alternative bill offered by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D., N.J.). That legislation would direct the administration to review its waiver of sanctions against Nord Stream 2, and impose mandatory sanctions against Russian leaders, banks and businesses, but only if Moscow escalates hostilities against Ukraine.

Missing in this explainer: the Cruz version would automatically impose sanctions. The Menendez version would allow the Administration to have discretion to (again) waive sanctions.

It doesn’t appear that the current waiver has done much to increase European solidarity or deter Russia. On the contrary, it has made Western energy markets even more vulnerable to Putin’s whims.