The Trump administration has long been critical of the EU, especially Germany, over their support for the transnational pipeline project, which will boost the capacity of Russia to sell natural gas to Europe. Washington insists that the EU must instead buy more expensive LNG from the US or other countries.
The European Commission has condemned the US plans to expand the sanctions on Nord Stream 2, which could potentially affect EU businesses working on the project, and stressed that extraterritorial sanctions violate international law.