Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) released the following statement expressing his deep concern with President Biden’s continued weak and mistaken position on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a Russian-backed initiative that will allow Putin to weaponize the European energy supply and exert undue influence in the region. The White House has failed to take needed steps to stop the project, implement congressionally mandated sanctions, and has now reportedly agreed to a deal with Germany that would dangerously ensure its advancement. The lack of concrete measures to halt the pipeline’s completion endangers European energy security and our allies:
Congressman Womack said, “The implications of Nord Stream 2 are deeply startling, and no amount of spin can distract from the facts. President Biden has enabled this geopolitical weapon for Putin at every turn. I sat with Ukrainian leaders this morning as they expressed the devastating consequences of this project. It will leave their people and European energy at the mercy of Moscow. If President Biden listened to what I did today, he would hear how his actions are ceding power to an adversary of democracy. The Administration’s current posture is shaping up to be one of the greatest foreign policy blunders in recent history.”
Background: Congressman Womack has long been an opponent of this Putin-led pipeline and consistently taken legislative action to stop its development. Today, he met with Ukrainian parliamentary leaders and heard firsthand about the real-world implications of Nord Stream 2. The group expressed how the completed project will undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and security and allow Russia to continue its malign behavior. Additionally, they discussed Womack’s support of defense efforts and programs to deter Russian influence through the appropriations process, as well as Arkansas’s support for Ukraine’s goals of peace, freedom, and democracy.
Original source can be found here.
