Russian aggression toward Ukraine continued to stress European alliances and global natural gas prices Friday following the defeat of sanctions for the 5.3 Bcf/d Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline in the Senate.

Nord Stream 2

The sanctions – brought by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Thursday night as part of a deal with Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) to drop opposition against Biden State Department nominations – stopped just short of the 60 votes needed at 55. Forty-four senators voted against the sanctions.

Democratic Senate leaders argued that unconditional opposition to the pipeline, which is designed to bring more natural gas from Russia to western Europe, could take away a key tool for the Biden administration to temper Russian aggression against Ukraine.

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