Nord Stream 2 to be completed in few days, America's efforts to stop it failed - Russian foreign minister

Deutsche Welle
Mon, 06 Sep 2021 20:13 UTC

© Getty Images / Jens Büttner

FILE PHOTO.

Construction on the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline took a major step to completion Monday.

According to the company, the final piece of piping has been welded together. It will then be lowered into place in the Baltic Sea. It must then be connected and will then be expected to begin operating.

Russia's state-owned energy company Gazprom said once the project has been completed the pipeline will begin supplying Germany in October. The €10 billion ($12 billion) project is expected to double the carrying capacity to Germany.

The construction of the pipeline has been dogged by delays and should have been completed by December 2019.

Nord Stream 2 bypasses Ukraine and the Baltic states, as well as Poland, to deliver natural gas to Germany

Its construction has been a sore point in Washington, with US sanctions ultimately delaying the final delivery of the project.

The US is not happy with what it believes will be a more dependent relationship between Europe and Russia. Washington does not want Moscow using energy as a weapon, and has sought assurances from Berlin that it will act if that is seen to be the case.

Comment: America is projecting.

Kyiv has been opposed to the project because of a bypass which prevents the routing of the pipeline through Ukraine. This bypass will deprive the country out of billions in transit fees. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the project is a "dangerous geopolitical weapon."

Comment: Rather than have sovereignty and mutually beneficial deals with its neighbour, Ukraine instead chose to become a vassal of the US, and for paltry sums.

"We view this project exclusively through the prism of security and consider it a dangerous geopolitical weapon of the Kremlin," Zelenskyy said at the time.

Those comments were made last month when German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the country, fresh from her last meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Comment: RT reports:

American efforts to stop Nord Stream 2 have failed & gas pipeline will be completed in next few days - Russian foreign minister

Years of economic sanctions and political efforts from Washington have come to nothing, and work on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is now nearing the final stages of completion, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

Speaking at a meeting in St. Petersburg on Monday, the veteran diplomat announced that final preparations are being made on the underwater link, which will connect the gas fields of Siberia to consumers in Western Europe. "It will be completed in a few days and will begin working," he said.

According to him, efforts by the US government to sink the pipeline now have no chance of success, despite the introduction of new sanctions in recent days. "There is still a full-frontal attack, in spite of everything, on Nord Stream 2," he said, despite the fact "everyone knows the Americans have realized [it will be completed.]"

Lavrov's comments came as Russia's state energy firm Gazprom announced that the final pipe of Nord Stream 2's second string was being welded into place. "The next step will be to connect the section of the gas pipeline from the coast of Germany," the company behind the project stated.

Last month, US President Joe Biden signed into force a new package of sanctions aimed at companies involved in the construction. In a letter sent to Congress, the White House said that "certain Russian energy pipeline projects" would expand Russia's influence in the region and weaken "Ukraine and Eastern flank NATO and EU countries," thereby threatening "the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."

The news came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both countries have continued to back the scheme despite opposition from the US, and Biden had previously acknowledged that work on the gas link was at an advanced stage. Shortly after taking office, he said that "to go ahead and impose sanctions now, I think is counterproductive in terms of our European relations."

The month before, American and German officials reached a deal to allow the construction to go ahead in exchange for commitments from Berlin to support sanctions against Moscow if it shows "aggression" toward Ukraine. Kiev has warned that it could stand to lose billions of dollars in gas transit fees each year if Moscow turns off the taps on its Soviet-built overland network of pipelines after the completion of Nord Stream 2.

See also:

• In January, Paris asked Berlin to suspend Nord Stream 2. In February, the French govt purchased 43% MORE GAS from Russia!
• Nord Stream 2 sanctions could have 'poisoned' US ties with Germany & failed anyway - US Sec Blinken