Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko met yesterday in Washington with key US Congress members to argue for sanctions to block the opening of the Russia-Germany Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline

. Separately, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee Monday that the Administration is talking to Germany about reimbursing Ukraine for lost transit fees and about establishing a pipeline cutoff mechanism if Russia moves against Ukraine. “I think it is necessary to ensure that the transit fee that Ukraine may at some point in the future lose as a result gas pipeline…was reimbursed,” Blinken said, according to Radio Free Europe.