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Will it go online?: Specialists on the pipelay vessel Fortuna during the final construction phase of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline
Photo: Nord Stream 2 AG / AFP
The US is threatening to stop the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The Baltic Sea pipeline, which is supposed to transport gas to Germany, will not be pursued in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, said Ned Price, spokesman of the US Department of State.
According to the July 21, 2021, US-German agreement, the gas pipeline may come under sanctions if Russia uses energy as a political weapon or acts against Ukraine.
Price therefore emphasized: "I want to say very clearly: If Russia invades Ukraine one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not be realized." They will work with Germany to ensure that it does not go any further.
Nord Stream 2 from Russia to Germany has long been completed and should have been transporting natural gas for about two years.
But the Baltic Sea gas pipeline is still not in operation.
Sanctions and threats from the USA repeatedly delayed the project.
In the meantime, both lines of the approximately 1,200-kilometer-long double line have been completed and filled with gas.
Around 55 billion cubic meters of gas are to flow through the double line each year.
Nord Stream 2 is Europe's most controversial energy project and aims to double the amount of gas flowing from Russia through the Baltic Sea directly to Germany, bypassing the traditional transit country of Ukraine.
The project is facing opposition within the European Union, the United States and Ukraine as it increases Europe's dependence on Russia and denies Ukraine transit fees - at a time when Moscow is at an impasse with the West .
