Amid Russia attack on Ukraine, Cruz pushes to make Nord Stream 2 sanctions permanent

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on the US response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks with Fox News Digital from CPAC about the US response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and how energy should play a key role.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is urging Congress to take action to make permanent sanctions targeting the company behind a controversial pipeline that’s front and center amid Russian attacks on neighboring Ukraine.

President Biden on Wednesday – hours before Russian leader Vladimir Putin launched a military assault on Ukraine – moved ahead with sanctions on the company that overseeing the building of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 project, providing a major blow to the pipeline from Russia to Germany. The penalty against Moscow was one of a series of steps the U.S. and its allies have slapped on Russia after it recognized separatist territories in eastern Ukraine ahead of sending in troops.

CRUZ CHARGES RUSSIA ATTACKED UKRAINE BECAUSE OF BIDEN'S ‘CATASTROPHIC’ MISTAKES

"I'll tell you what Congress needs to do next week. We need to come back and pass my legislation to make the sanctions on Nord Stream 2 permanent," Cruz said Thursday evening in an interview with Fox News minutes after delivering a speech in Orlando, Florida at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the largest and oldest annual gathering of conservative leaders and activists.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) (AP )

Cruz once again charged that "the reason that Russia is invading Ukraine right now is because of repeated mistakes made by the Biden White House."

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He argued that one of the mistakes was what he called the "catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the weakness that projected to every enemy of America that emboldened our enemies."

And the senator claimed that "the specific reason we saw Ukraine invaded is because the Biden White House surrendered on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Nord Stream 2 is the pipeline that Putin was building to get his energy straight to Europe without having to go through Ukraine. And the reason he wants the pipeline is so that he doesn't need Ukrainian pipelines to get his gas to market."

The move is part of a series of penalties the US and its allies have imposed on Russia this week in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's recognition of separatist territories in eastern Ukraine as independent.

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Cruz authored bipartisan legislation signed into law by then-President Donald Trump to stop the development of the pipeline before Biden reversed the effort.

"Just this week, after the Russian invasion, Biden finally, finally, finally, did the right thing and put sanctions in place," Cruz said.

President Joe Biden speaks about Ukraine in the East Room of the White House (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The senator argued that making the sanctions permanent would "take away Joe Biden's ability to waive them in the future…Every Republican, every Democrat should come together on legislation that says Nord Stream 2 will never, ever, ever, go online. That would be the right thing to do. And by the way, it's the only thing that has any real potential of stopping this invasion of Ukraine."

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White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday the Biden administration had "never supported" the Nord Stream 2 pipeline despite previously waiving sanctions and lobbying Congress against sanctioning it.

The pipeline’s parent company, Nord Stream 2 AG, is a firm registered in Switzerland whose parent company is the Russian gas giant Gazprom.

Trump has repeatedly argued this week that Putin would not have launched the attack on Ukraine if he were still in the White House. And Trump, in comments that sparked controversy, used the words "savvy" and "genius" to describe the Russian leader’s moves.

Asked about those comments, Cruz defended the former president, telling Fox News "I think what President Trump said is that Putin is running circles around Joe Biden, that that's not a good thing. It is unfortunately true."

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And he charged that "Biden refuses to stand up and lead."

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