Senate Democrats Renew Push to Sanction China for Buying Russian LNG
Four Senate Democrats criticized the Trump administration Oct. 23 for ignoring their earlier call to sanction Chinese individuals and entities that buy liquefied natural gas from the U.S.-sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia.
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In a follow-up letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the senators said the administration’s continued inaction has allowed the "flagship" project to “rise from the dead” and help fund Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“One month ago, we pressed you specifically to counter China’s brazen defiance of U.S. sanctions on Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project -- a revenue stream worth billions for Russia’s war machine that had previously been disrupted by consistent, targeted U.S. sanctions” during the Biden administration, the senators wrote. “You refused to act, and the consequences have become impossible to ignore: Russia has now offloaded its tenth shipment of sanctioned LNG to a Chinese port.”
The senators said LNG sanctions must be in addition to the sanctions the Trump administration recently imposed on two major Russian energy companies (see 2510220050).
The new letter was led by Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and co-signed by Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; and Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md. They and four other Senate Democrats made the original push for sanctions in a Sept. 19 letter to Rubio and Bessent (see 2509190049). The State and Treasury departments didn’t comment on either letter.