The Biden officials also denied negotiating with the Germans over a potential side deal to allow the pipeline to be finished.
At one point during the call, a Republican Senate staffer asked the Biden officials why they hadn't sanctioned Nord Stream 2 AG - the company in charge of building the pipeline.
"I'm on their web page right now and they identify themselves as the company that's in charge of the planning, construction and operation of the pipeline." "You have determined that sanctionable activity was occurring related to the pipeline," the official continued.
State Department officials contended that the word "Exchange" shouldn't be construed as a negotiation and that the Biden administration, in the course of normal diplomatic conversations, had registered its concerns about the pipeline with the Germans.
GOP congressional staffers asked the Biden officials to commit to updating the report they'd already delivered Congress with new entities that ought to be sanctioned, but the State Department officials did not commit to doing so.
One of the Biden officials told the congressional staffers that if they had more information about entities involved in the pipeline, they should say what it is.
The big picture: Pipeline construction halted during the Trump administration after Congress mandated sanctions in a 2019 bill and top Trump officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, issued aggressive threats.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/scoop-biden-admin-call-putin-183018761.html
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