The U.S. has waived sanctions on the company behind Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced, prompting criticism from Congress.

A State Department report sent to Congress concluded that Nord Stream 2 and its CEO, Matthias Warnig, an ally of Russia's President Vladimir Putin, engaged in sanctionable activity. But Blinken immediately waived those sanctions, saying the move was in the U.S. national interest.

The decision came as the Biden administration seeks to improve ties with Germany after relations deteriorated under Republican former President Donald Trump. The waivers have no specific end date but can be rescinded by the secretary of state.

The State Department imposed sanctions on four Russian ships, including the Akademik Cherskiy, which began pipe-laying for the project in Danish waters in April. It also imposed measures on five other Russian entities, including the Russian Marine Rescue Service.

"Today's actions demonstrate the administration's commitment to energy security in Europe, consistent with the president's pledge to rebuild relationships with our allies and partners in Europe," Blinken said in a release, issued as he met with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Iceland for an Arctic Council conference.

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President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has opposed the $11 billion project that would take Russian gas from the Arctic to Germany, saying it is a bad deal for Europe. The U.S. is an exporter of natural gas to Europe, but Russian gas is cheaper.

Washington fears Russia could use Nord Stream 2 as leverage to weaken European Union states by increasing their dependency on Moscow.

Russia's state energy company, Gazprom, and its Western partners are racing to finish the pipeline to send natural gas under the Baltic Sea. Now about 95 percent complete, the project would bypass Ukraine, depriving it of lucrative transit fees and potentially undermining its struggle against Russian aggression.

Cross-party criticism 

U.S. lawmakers from both parties who oppose the project said the sanctions did not go far enough, because Russia could likely continue work.

Senator Jim Risch, the senior Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the waivers would be "a gift to Putin that will only weaken the United States' leverage in the lead up to the impending Biden-Putin summit."

Biden "should do everything possible to accomplish what the Trump administration failed to do for four years: stop the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline for good," said Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat and chair of the committee.

Germany has pressed for the U.S. to drop its opposition to the project, arguing that their overall relationship was too important to risk over what Berlin has described as a commercial project.

"We see this as a constructive step, which we are happy to further discuss with our partners in Washington," Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters.

Russian officials signaled on Wednesday that waivers could help mend Washington's strained ties with Moscow.