Axios: US Senate could not pass defense budget due to disputes over Nord Stream 2 
US Senate could not pass defense budget amendments due to controversy over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. This is reported by Axios.
The main difficulty in the debate was the refusal of Senator Chuck Schumer to vote on the Republican amendments, as they include the introduction of additional sanctions against the operator of Nord Stream 2. At the same time, the Senate decided to expedite consideration of 21 amendments, one of which involves the introduction of restrictions against the gas pipeline in the event of a military invasion of Russia by Russia. According to the portal, the law on the defense budget must be adopted no later than December 31.
Prior to that, it was reported that the Republicans blocked the further passage of the country's defense budget draft for the next fiscal year in the US Senate. The draft defense budget in the amount of approximately $ 770 billion includes sanctions against Moscow.
On September 10, the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, announced that the construction of Nord Stream 2 was fully completed. By mid-October, it was already ready for launch, but the date of its real start of work will be determined by the European regulator. The certification process for Nord Stream 2 could take several months.