The refusal to build the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline may entail “geostrategic consequences” undesirable for Europe, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday, February 10, in the Bundestag during the Actual Hour dedicated to relations with Moscow.
“Anyone who, in principle, questions Nord Stream 2, should also think about what, at least, geostrategic consequences it will have and what it will mean in terms of the possibilities of influencing Russia from Europe,” he quotes its Aharm.Online.
Closing the project would also bring Russia closer to China, Maas said.
On the eve of the head of the German-Russian forum Matthias Platzeck said that Germany’s refusal to continue the construction of Nord Stream 2 would lead to enormous economic damage, and the consequences for relations with Russia “cannot be measured at all.”
On February 8, the German magazine Der Spiegel published an article in which it is said that if the construction of Nord Stream 2 is halted, it will leave pipe ruins in Europe.
In early February, the US authorities set a number of conditions for the FRG to lift sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. However, the FRG government did not see any opportunities for US concessions on the project and referred to the agreements already reached on gas transit through Ukraine.
On January 19, the US Treasury announced the expansion of sanctions against the gas pipeline project. The restrictions were imposed on the Russian pipe-laying vessel Fortuna and its owner. Restrictions include a ban on exports, banking and foreign exchange transactions, blocking of assets and property.
Nord Stream 2 is being built along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. The goal of the project is to ensure direct and reliable gas supplies to Europe. The EU countries mainly support the project and participate in its implementation. The United States, the Baltic republics, Poland and Ukraine oppose the pipeline.