US Warns Firms It Stands Ready to Sanction Supporters of Russia’s New Gas Pipelines

A Russian construction worker speaks on a mobile phone in Portovaya Bay some 106 miles north-west from St. Petersburg, Russia, during a ceremony marking the marking the start of Nord Stream pipeline construction on April 9, 2010. Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Photo/ file

The Trump administration is warning investors in two Russian natural gas pipeline projects that they could face sanctions if the Kremlin uses energy exports as a tool of political influence.

The State Department has updated its public guidance on the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to “clarify” that the Trump administration stands ready to sanction “investments or other activities related to a broader scope of Russian energy export pipelines, including Nord Stream 2 and the second line of Turk Stream.”