MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd March, 2021) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that the discussion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project would likely be on the agenda of his talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in the Belgian capital of Brussels, where the two are currently taking part in the NATO ministerial.
"I very much look forward to seeing my German counterpart ... I suspect that Nord Stream 2 will come up in the conversation. President [Joe] Biden has been very clear in saying that he believes the pipeline is a bad idea, bad for Europe, bad for the United States," Blinken said at a press conference alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The senior US official added that the pipeline project, aimed at delivering Russian gas to Germany, would undermine the interests of Ukraine, Poland, and a number of other NATO allies.
"I'm sure I'll have an opportunity to reiterate that, including the law in the United States, which requires us to sanction companies participating in the efforts to complete the pipeline," Blinken noted.
Nord Stream 2 is a joint venture of Russian energy company Gazprom and five European partners. The project is a constant target of criticism and sanctions by the United States, which calls it a threat to the energy security of Europe and Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Berlin keeps rejecting extraterritorial sanctions in connection with the Nord Stream 2 project, saying that the pipeline's construction should be completed.
