Against the background of the dispute between Russia and Ukraine over the Kerch Strait, the US Congress is considering about 10 bills against the energy sector of Russia. This was reported by assistant Secretary of state for energy Francis Fannon at a briefing in Washington on Monday, December 10.

“We are monitoring the draft laws — there are about 10. All of them contain Russian energy as a key component,” Fannon said. He noted that the first to be considered by the congressmen is a recommendation resolution, where Congress disagrees with the construction of the Nord stream-2 gas pipeline, which will directly connect Russia and Germany. A decision on this resolution can be taken as early as this week.

“We expect the Congress to take a decision on this issue, and the pressure on the Russian energy sector will only increase as a result,” Fannon said. According to the American official, the “Nord stream-2” is a tool with which Russia wants to strengthen the dependence of the importing countries, so the US calls on all partners of Russia to get out of this project.

“Diversification of energy»

The bill, which is under consideration by the US Congress, among other things, says: “Russia’s Geopolitical interest in the Nord stream-2 is not to strengthen European energy security, but to drive a wedge between European countries and radically reduce the existing gas transit through Ukraine.”

According to Francis Fannon, the key to preserving Europe’s energy independence is energy diversification. In this regard, the official mentioned several projects aimed at achieving this goal — the construction of a connecting gas pipeline between Greece and Bulgaria, synchronization of the electricity networks of the Baltic countries with continental Europe and the construction of a terminal for the reception of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Croatia.

“This terminal could receive LNG from a wide range of suppliers. This will increase diversification and move away from Russian sources, which will be of particular importance for Hungary,” Fannon explained.

On December German foreign Minister Haiko Mas said that Berlin will not give up political support for the “Nord stream-2”.