State Department defends sanction strategy as Russia ignores economic threat and invades Ukraine

The State Department on Wednesday defended its strategy of punishing Russia with reactive sanctions despite its inability to deter Moscow from invading Ukraine this week.

“The fact is that had we sanctioned Nord Stream 2 … it is far from clear that that would have kept the pipeline from going into operation,” State Department press secretary Ned Price said. 

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Price told reporters the pipeline was already 90% complete when the Biden administration entered the White House, despite U.S. sanctions on the pipeline issued under the Trump administration.

“What the Germans did yesterday was to ensure that the pipeline is no longer a part of the equation,” Price said during tough questioning about the White House’s strategy of deterrence. “One of the most important tools we have in our arsenal is transatlantic unity.”

On Tuesday, Germany blocked the certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would have funneled natural gas from Russia into Europe through Germany, after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered “peacekeeping” troops to enter Eastern Ukraine. 

In response, Washington slapped the pipeline with its own sanctions Wednesday in addition to freezing $80 billion in Kremlin assets.

Russian elites and their families have also been targeted by the sanctions. 

A tank travels along a street after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the deployment of Russian troops to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine following the recognition of their independence in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine, Feb. 22, 2022. 
(REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko)

NATO allies, the European Union, Australia and Japan hit Russia with…