Nord Stream 2 sanctions debate heats up in the White House

According to Politico, Witkoff, who claims to have formed a "friendship" with Vladimir Putin, has instructed his team to draft a list of sanctioned Russian energy entities, lobbying for the lifting of restrictions.

Alongside him, similar influences are being exerted by groups of businessmen, including financier Stephen Lynch, who unsuccessfully tried to persuade the administration to allow the purchase of Nord Stream 2 during President Biden's time in office. Efforts to lift the sanctions were also made with the help of the Biden administration by a close associate of Vladimir Putin and the head of Nord Stream 2 AG, Matthias Warnig.

However, sources informed the portal that so far, these actions have not gained wider support in the White House, with Witkoff facing opposition from the State Department and Doug Burgum, the Minister of Internal Resources, who leads the "Energy Dominance Council".

Opponents argue that lifting sanctions on the Russian gas sector would harm American LNG exporters and their growing gas supplies to Europe.

There is an internal White House debate between the energy dominance people — Burgum, who wants markets for U.S. LNG — and Witkoff, who wants to be closer to Russia, a source told the portal. "Russia regaining its status as Europe’s top energy supplier would be 'a bloodbath for American [oil and gas] producers,'" they added.

According to another interlocutor, some in the US administration believe that Russia misled Witkoff regarding the scale of US economic capabilities in restoring business relations with Russia.

Politico notes that lifting sanctions on Nord Stream—originally imposed during Trump's first term and cited by him as evidence that "no one has been tougher on Russia"—would only make sense if the European Union agreed to resume purchasing gas from Russia, which the authors deem unlikely.