The outgoing administration of US President Donald Trump intends to expand sanctions on Nord Stream 2 in the coming weeks, Reuters reported on December 23, citing sources in the administration of the American leader.
The interlocutors of the agency said that the new restrictions will be introduced “in the very near future” and may inflict “a fatal blow on the Russia-Germany project.”
“We have struck blow after blow, and now we are ready to drive a stake in the heart of this project,” – said one of the senior sources.
On December 11, the construction of the gas pipeline was resumed. Pipelayer Fortuna has begun laying the unfinished section of Nord Stream 2 in German waters.
On the same day, the US Senate approved the country’s draft military budget for fiscal 2021 (started on October 1), which includes, among other things, sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a large press conference on December 17 that the construction of the pipeline was almost complete. According to him, 160 km of pipes remain to be laid before the end of construction.
Nord Stream 2 is being built from Russia to Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Due to earlier US sanctions, pipe-laying work was suspended as the Swiss company Allseas withdrew its vessels from the Baltic. The EU countries mainly support the project and participate in its implementation. The United States, the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine are opposed.