The annual U.S. defense policy bill unveiled by lawmakers late on Thursday contains sanctions that backers say will halt one of Russia’s biggest projects in Europe: the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. FILE The $11 billion Nord Stream 2 project, led by Russian state energy company Gazprom and aimed at doubling the existing pipeline’s capacity, is more than 90% complete. Russia says the project to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea to Europe via Germany will begin operating next year. But President Donald Trump’s administration, which is eager to offer Europe U.S. shipments of gas, and many U.S. lawmakers oppose the pipeline. They say the project, which would bypass Ukraine, depriving it of lucrative transit fees, would […]