https://www.nytimes.

com/2022/01/13/us/politics/senate-russia-gas-
pipeline-ukraine.html

New Sanctions for Russian Gas Pipeline Fall Short in

Senate
The measure pitted Ukraine’s president, who was pushing for the penalties, against the
Biden administration, which successfully lobbied Democrats to oppose them.

By Catie Edmondson and Kenneth P. Vogel

Published Jan. 13, 2022 Updated Jan. 14, 2022, 9:41 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday rejected a bid to impose sanctions on a

Russian natural-gas pipeline, as Democrats set themselves against a Republican-led
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measure endorsed by Ukrainian for reading
leaders ThebyTimes.
but opposed the Biden administration amid
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The final tally of 55 to 44 fell short of the 60 votes needed for passage, and came as the
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United States and its trans-Atlantic allies were pressing Russia’s president, Vladimir V.
Putin, to abandon any further incursion into Ukraine and pull back his troops from its
borders. The bill prompted dueling lobbying campaigns on Capitol Hill, where top
Ukrainian officials leaned on senators to backContinue
it and Biden administration officials sought
to kill it.
or
Efforts to impose sanctions on the
By continuing, Nord
you agree Stream
to the Terms of2, an undersea
Service gas
and acknowledge ourpipeline from Russia
to Germany that would give Moscow enormous leverage over Europe, have long drawn
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bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have enthusiastically sought to

bolster Ukraine against Russian aggression. ContinueBut withthe Google
timing of the vote — amid
continuing diplomatic talks between Russia and the United States in the hopes of
averting war — as well as the BidenContinue with Facebook
administration’s vocal opposition ultimately helped
fuel the measure’s defeat.
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Six Democrats — some of them facing difficult re-elections in 2022 — defected from their
party’s position and voted in favor of the measure, reflecting that a majority of senators
supported the new sanctions. Support independent journalism.
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The Biden administration and its allies in Congress argued the legislation, led by Senator
Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, would do little to counter Russian influence because the
pipeline’s construction is nearly completed. Instead, they said, the sanctions would drive
a wedge between the United States and Germany, which has championed the pipeline as
vital to its industrial success, and give up a key point of leverage during diplomatic
negotiations