The Right (and Wrong) Way to Deal With Nord Stream 2

The construction of Nord Stream 2 — a pipeline for delivering natural gas from Russia to Germany — could hardly have come at a worse time. The United States and Europe are already feuding over trade, defense spending and Iran. Now, U.S. opposition to the pipeline sets the scene for another falling out.

To be clear, the U.S. is right to object to the pipeline, a project conceived to serve Russia’s geopolitical goals rather than Europe’s energy needs. Earlier this month, Washington’s ambassador to the European Union told an audience in Brussels that the U.S. is considering steps that “could significantly undermine if not outright stop the project.” But imposing sanctions on EU companies involved in the project, as the U.S. Congress has threatened to do, would further weaken a fraying alliance and thus prove self-defeating. The U.S. should press its objections without resorting to punitive measures, and the EU should think again.