New U.S. Sanctions on Russia Are a Mixed Bag

The European Commission is preparing to counteract the new sanctions the U.S. Congress may impose on Russia this week. This may sound as if Europe is siding with Russia after three years of upholding economic restrictions against it and the Western alliance is showing cracks. But it's more complicated than that: Europeans are merely looking after their economic interests, which the U.S. bill clumsily steps on.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress is likely to approve a bipartisan bill, also backed by the Senate, which imposes new sanctions on Iran, Russia and North Korea. It has a controversial section that empowers the president to sanction any company that provides technology, services, investment or any support to Russian export pipeline projects. That has dangerous implications for European companies that are partners in Russia's planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany, including France's Engie, the U.K.-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, Austria's OMV Group and Germany's Uniper and Wintershall, all partners in the project.