During the Foreign Ministers' Conference in Brussels, Heiko Maas speaks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The US calls for the Nord Stream 2 project to be stopped.
Munich / Brussels - The NATO Foreign Ministers' Conference will begin in Brussels on Wednesday, March 24, 2021.
In addition to the foreign ministers' talks on war and peace in Yemen, Afghanistan and Iran, there was a first two-person meeting between US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
The Federal Foreign Office describes the first meeting of ministers as a “very good exchange”, with US Foreign Minister Blinken sharply criticizing the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 project.
US government calls for Nord Stream 2 to be stopped immediately
Even before his first meeting with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, the new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about Germany and the gas pipeline project, Nord Stream 2. He criticized Germany for its cooperation with Russia.
And that Germany is sticking to the pipeline project, even though Russia is trying to compromise collective security.
Blinken responded with the determined appearance of the new US administration under President Joe Biden.
He said the US is demanding an immediate stop on Nord Stream 2.
The US government is not afraid to impose sanctions on the companies involved in the construction.
Nord Stream 2 pipeline project between Germany and Russia
For the USA, the pipeline project between Germany and Russia was a thorn in the side even before the new US administration.
Nord Stream 2 describes a pipeline on the Baltic Sea with lines of around 1230 kilometers, which in the future will transport 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from Russia to Germany.
The project is in its final phase and is 90 percent complete.
The US government justifies its rejection of Nord Stream 2 with the prospect that Germany is becoming too dependent on Russian gas.
It already imposed sanctions on the companies involved in January.
Proponents of the gas pipeline believe that the US is afraid of receiving fewer orders for liquid gas supplies from Germany.
Federal government is cautious about the demands of the USA
The Federal Foreign Office responded cautiously to the demands of the USA that after completion the operation could still be banned or made conditional.
According to the Foreign Office, the project should not end as a billion-dollar building ruin.