Psaki admits U.S. had no way of stopping Nord Stream 2

White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the Biden administration’s decision to waive sanctions against Nord Stream 2 by saying the Russia-Germany pipeline was nearly complete and nothing could be done to stop it.

The U.S. State Department announced on Wednesday it was sanctioning a number of ships and companies, but immediately waived the sanctions against Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO Matthias Warnig, citing national interests. 

Asked about this on Thursday, Psaki told Fox News reporter Peter Doocy that the U.S. continues to oppose the pipeline as a “Russian geopolitical project” but that it was mostly completed by the time Joe Biden was sworn in as president.

"In what way were we going to stop a project in another country that had been built 95%?" Psaki retorted, adding that Washington has signaled opposition to it via "public and private channels," including Wednesday’s sanctions.