Nord Stream 2 Commercial Pipeline Serving EU Energy Interests - Russian Foreign Ministry

Moscow, amid the threat of sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, insists that it is of a commercial nature and meets Europe's interests, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Tuesday

VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2019) Moscow, amid the threat of sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, insists that it is of a commercial nature and meets Europe's interests, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, US Energy Secretary Rick Perry said that the United States remained very much opposed to the construction of the pipeline and warned that Washington was going to soon approve sanctions on the companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 project.

"Our position is known for Nord Stream. It is absolutely commercial, meets the energy interests of Europe, the interests of Europe's energy security, and we see that some countries use unfit geopolitical tools to ensure more favorable conditions for economic activity, in simple terms, to force Europeans to buy expensive American gas," Grushko said on the sidelines of the Valdai Discussion Club's European conference in Vienna.

The diplomat noted that everything depended on whether Europeans would be able to adopt a stance, which, above all, would be in their own interest.

The Nord Stream 2 project envisages the construction of a twin pipeline at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, which will deliver around 55 billion cubic meters (almost 2 trillion cubic feet) of gas directly to Germany and other European countries.

The pipeline is set to pass either through territorial waters or exclusive economic zones of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia and Sweden. Denmark remains the only country that has not given its consent to the construction of the pipeline so far. �