Kremlin welcomes Nord Stream 2 decisions
The spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin said May 20 the Kremlin welcomed recent US concessions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
As expected, the US State Department said May 19 it was waiving sanctions on the Swiss-based pipeline company Nord Stream AG, its CEO Matthias Warnig and other officers. Entities involved in the construction of the pipeline, which is nearly complete, remain under sanctions pressure.
“This is definitely a positive signal,” Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian news agency Tass as saying.
In an interview with NGW in January, German gas lobby group Zukunft Gas had expressed doubts that Joe Biden, fresh into his presidency, would want to alienate Germany with tight sanctions.
Nord Stream 2 is the second leg of a dual natural gas pipeline system that runs through the Baltic Sea to the German coast. Its construction is around 95% complete.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said May 19 that the US government remains opposed to the pipeline, arguing it undermines European energy security by keeping links to Russian energy in place.
“Our opposition to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is unwavering,” he said. “Though we may not always agree, our alliances remain strong, and our position is in line with our commitment to strengthen our transatlantic relationships as a matter of national security.”
During a conversation this week with his Russian counterpart, Sergie Lavrov, Blinken made no mention of the gas pipeline, but expressed concern over recent Russian military deployments near Ukraine, a former Soviet republic.
Concerns about European energy security run parallel to US national security interests. Following a Ukrainian embrace of the European Union following a 2014 revolution, Russia responded by annexing the Crimean Peninsula.
Apart from energy security, the US and some of its European allies argue the natural gas pipeline starves Ukraine of transit fees from the Soviet-era pipelines that cross its territory to Slovakia and the Balkans.