The United States will continue to take action against those involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline — UNIAN

Reuters

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. position on the Nord Stream 2 project has not changed and Washington has been “very clear” about it.

“That is that we oppose this pipeline, we see it as a Russian geopolitical project, a project that threatens Europe’s energy security and, in fact, undermines the security of some of our close partners, including Ukraine and other countries in eastern NATO,” the spokesman told briefing Thursday.

“Our goal in all of these steps remains to ensure that Russia cannot use energy as a tool of coercion against Ukraine or any other country in the region. It is with this stance that the United States has even in recent weeks imposed sanctions on four Russian entities engaged in sanctionable activities under our laws and designated four vessels as blocked property. We will continue to take appropriate action against entities and individuals engaging in sanctionable activities to demonstrate our continued opposition to this pipeline,” Price said.

State Department officials noted that the United States maintains a close relationship with Germany, which is important to the United States.

READ ALSOUkrainian Foreign Minister: Ukraine doubts whether Russia will abide by the Nord Stream 2 agreement“Nord Stream 2 and our opposition to it has been a feature of every conversation I’ve ever heard between senior State Department officials. Certainly, President Biden will have the opportunity to meet with Chancellor Merkel and review our close and deep relationship with Germany,” Price said. “But any relationship as important and extensive as this is going to have disagreements, and this is one of them.”

background

• On June 10, the first reports came that NS2 operators had completed laying the first section of the new pipeline. The offshore section of the pipeline, which runs along the bottom of the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany, has been connected.
• Preparations for launching the pipeline began on June 11.
• Despite an initial deadline of 2019, the entire project to bypass Ukraine’s natural gas pipeline is now 90% complete.
• The United States has imposed a number of sanctions on the project and has repeatedly called on EU partners and private companies to halt construction of the pipeline. At the same time, the United States has not imposed sanctions on pipeline operator Nord Stream 2 and its CEO Mathias Waniger. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it is in the U.S. national interest to lift such sanctions.
• Ukrainian President Zelensky said that after the NS2 project is launched, Russia will try its best not to extend the existing contract for the transportation of natural gas through Ukraine.