Two U.S. senators, Republican Ted Cruz of Texas, and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, have introduced legislation to sanction companies involved in laying pipelines in the Baltic Sea for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which threatens Ukraine’s status as the major land-based transporter of Russian natural gas to Europe. Instead, if Russia and Germany get their way, the new twin line of Nord Stream — which will cost $11 billion — will double the capacity of the existing line to 110 billion cubic meters yearly.

While the pipeline has been in the works for years, given Russia’s aggressive assaults on the West — and its dismembering war against Ukraine since 2014 — the multibillion-dollar pipeline undermines Western attempts to reign in Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin. Russia and Germany had hoped to complete the pipeline by the end of the year. That looks less likely now. And if the U.S. passes sanctions that target specialty firms constructing Nord Stream 2, the project may be tied up in legal disputes for years to come. Delays, of course, would force Russia to negotiate new gas-transit contracts to send supplies through Ukraine’s land-based pipelines, a business that means at least $2 billion yearly to Kyiv.