US sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will not stop its construction, and the project will be fully implemented, Oleg Morozov, a member of the Russian upper house's foreign affairs committee, told Sputnik on Saturday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st December, 2019) US sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will not stop its construction, and the project will be fully implemented, Oleg Morozov, a member of the Russian upper house's foreign affairs committee, told Sputnik on Saturday.Earlier in the day, the US Department of the Treasury said that the sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream gas pipelines had already entered into force, and demanded an immediate stop to pipe installations for these projects. After that, Swiss company Allseas suspended the work on laying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline over the sanctions.
"Of course, sanctions put some obstacles for project implementation. Swiss company Allseas, which suffered the most [from the US sanctions], is currently looking for a decision on how the sanctions will be used. But the sanctions will not stop the project. We will find a solution and complete the project," Morozov said.
According to the official, the United States is first of all harming Europe and European companies. He stressed that Germany strongly opposes these sanctions.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump signed the $738 billion National Defense Authorization Act that includes sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream gas pipelines along with a range of other measures. The legislation also bars military-to-military cooperation with Russia.
The Nord Stream 2 project is a joint venture between Russia's Gazprom and five European companies France's ENGIE, Austria's OMV, the UK-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, and Germany's Uniper and Wintershall. The 745-mile-long twin pipeline will carry nearly 2 trillion cubic feet of gas per year from Russia to Germany, passing through the territorial waters or exclusive economic zones of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia and Sweden.
