By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters). – Republican U.S. Ted Cruz, a Republican U.S. Senator will vote on January 7th on the bill that would impose sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. This is part of a deal he made with Democrats. In it, he also lifted restrictions on dozens more nominees for Ambassador posts by President Joe Biden.

The agreement between Chuck Schumer (a Democrat) and Cruz was reached on Saturday. It will allow the Senate to vote on Cruz’s bill that would place sanctions against the Russia-to Germany pipeline before January 14.

It was approved by the Senate, which allowed for approximately 3 dozen Ambassadors to be appointed. Rahm Emanuel (ex-Chicago Mayor) will serve as Japan’s ambassador.

To pass Cruz’s bill that would have imposed measures on the pipeline based upon previous mandates under the agreement, it will need to get 60 votes. It is difficult to pass the bill in the 50-50 Senate because bipartisanship can be scarce.

The Democrats had rallied around a different measure this fall that would have sanctions placed on Nord Stream 2 officials and Russian officials only if Russia invaded Ukraine. However, that legislation was removed from the annual defense policy legislation.

On Saturday, a senior Republican congressional aide indicated that Cruz’s bill would be passed.

Biden is opposed to Nord Stream 2. The project has been completed, but Germany still needs approvals. It would bypass Ukraine and deprive it of transit fees, potentially weakening Russia’s struggle against Russia. According to the administration, Russia will have more influence over Europe through this project. Moscow claims that the project is only for commercial purposes.

Requests for comment were not received by the White House or State Department immediately.

Biden’s administration placed sanctions in May on Nord Stream 2 AG (the company which controls the pipeline). It immediately lifted the sanctions as it claimed that the pipeline was almost complete and the administration wanted to restore ties with its ally Germany.

Germany has taken time to approve this pipeline. In a setback for Nord Stream 2, Germany’s energy regulator said on Thursday https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/german-regulator-says-nord-stream-2-launch-not-expected-h1-2022-2021-12-16 that no decision on whether to allow it to be commissioned is expected in the first half of 2022.