WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2020) The Nord Stream 2 pipeline project is close to being completed and Germany is eager to discuss with the United States the legitimate US economic interests, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Wednesday.
"When we are talking about energy supply, Nord Stream 2, everyone knows and I am happy to admit that it's not a project close to my heart, but it is a project that was started many governments ago and it's nearing completion now," Kramp-Karrenbauer said.
The Defense Minister acknowledged that the United States has its own interests regarding natural and shale gas.
"Those are very legitimate interests and I am a proponent of openly discussing these questions among friends," Kramp-Karrenbauer said.
The Defense Minister noted that Germany is being criticized on three points regarding Nord Stream 2, including that it is becoming too dependent on Russia.
However, Germany is diversifying its energy supply in Europe by using other energy sources, liquefaction, alternative energies and renewable energies, Kramp-Karrenbauer said.
The second point of criticism refers to the legitimate interests of Ukraine and Eastern European states, like Poland, Kramp-Karrenbauer said.
"We are advocating for them in the negotiations at the moment," she said.
The third point is whether Germany is effectively helping Russia to finance its military spending through the pipeline project, but this is certainly not only the case with Nord Stream 2, Kramp-Karrenbauer added
In early June, US senators introduced a bipartisan bill to tighten sanctions on Nord Stream 2 and potentially hit numerous European companies, banks and governmental organizations that work with the project. According to media reports, Germany is putting together a set of countermeasures to mobilize a coordinated EU-wide response.
On December 20, US President Donald Trump signed the 2020 defense budget, which included sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 project, forcing Allseas, a Swiss company responsible for laying down the pipes, to withdraw from the project with just 100 miles left to lay.
The Nord Stream 2 project aims at laying a 745-mile-long twin pipeline that will carry up to 55 billion cubic meters (1.94 trillion cubic feet) of gas per year from Russia to Germany. The pipeline passes through the territorial waters or exclusive economic zones of Russia, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Sweden.
