Sen. Cruz: The New York Times is Choosing Putin Over America
Slams latest editorial as in the tradition of Walter Duranty for attack on bipartisan, bicameral, whole-of-government effort to stop Putin’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline
ORANGE, Texas - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today issued the following statement in response to the New York Times' editorial criticizing the bipartisan, bicameral, whole-of-government effort to stop Vladimir Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline:
"From Walter Duranty to Vladimir Putin, The New York Times seems determined to carry on its proud tradition of serving as a propaganda outlet for Russian dictators.
"The effort to block Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a bipartisan, bicameral, whole-of-government effort that goes back years and crosses party lines.
"Experts all agree that if completed the pipeline would divide Europe, hold our European allies' energy security hostage to Russia, and critically endanger the security of Ukraine.
"This pipeline is a tool for Putin's economic international blackmail and worse.
"With today's editorial, it's clear the Times is choosing Putin over America. 2020 continues to be a banner year for the editorial board."
Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline has long been opposed across the European Union, and in December 2019 the European Parliament voted 433-105 to condemn it.
The New York Times editorial extends false reporting that the U.S. efforts to block Nord Stream 2 pipeline are opposed by the European Union. European leaders have rebuked these false reports. Last week, Estonian Ambassador to the U.S. Jonatan Vseviov said: "Estonia's position on Nord Stream 2 has been consistently clear and it has not changed. Nord Stream 2 undermines transatlantic relations, European unity and is detrimental to European energy security. That is why we have always opposed Nord Stream 2 and will continue to do so." Poland's ambassador to the U.S. Piotr Wilczek added that those reports are "grossly misleading" and that Poland opposes Nord Stream 2 because "it undermines Europe's energy security & unity." Earlier this month, Poland fined Russian natural gas company Gazprom $57 million for its involvement in Nord Stream 2.
In June 2020, Sens. Cruz and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H), along with Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), introduced new legislation clarifying and expanding the sanctions of their bipartisan 2019 bill, the Protecting Europe's Energy Security Act, which advanced out of the Foreign Relations Committee with overwhelming support and was signed into law in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 last year. The new legislation clarifying these sanctions was also recently included in the Senate passed FY21 National Defense Authorization Act. In August, 2020, Sens. Cruz, Cotton, Johnson sent a letter to Fährhafen Sassnitz GmbH, which operates Mukran Port, alerting them to their exposure to sanctions related to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.
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