The US Senate Committee on International Affairs voted to impose sanctions against the “Nord Stream – 2” project. FreeNews reported. The presidential administration believes that the implementation of the project will strengthen Moscow’s economic power in Europe.

According to the bill, the restrictions will affect persons and companies involved in the laying of the offshore part of the pipeline. This applies to those who rent or provide technical support and ship insurance for the construction of “Nord Stream – 2”. After consideration in the Committee, the document will have to go through the Senate vote in full, then in the House of Representatives, and after the bill will be sent to the US President Donald Trump for signature. The document provides for the freezing of assets and a ban on entry into the country.

“Nord Stream-2” should pass under the Baltic Sea and connect Russia and Germany. Its launch is scheduled for the end of 2019, but it is possible to postpone the deadline due to the position of Denmark. Copenhagen called the gas pipeline a threat to statehood and said about the danger of increasing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas. The pipeline will bypass transit countries, including Ukraine, Belarus, and Poland.

Earlier on Wednesday, July 31, the head of the Austrian company OMV Rainer Seele announced that the first gas on the “Nord stream-2” will arrive before midnight on December 31. He specified that 70 percent of the pipeline has already been laid on the seabed, delays in the implementation of the project are not expected.