Sanctions Against Nord Stream 2 Project Will Not Disrupt Completion - Russian Lawmaker

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published June 05, 2020 | 04:36 PM

The United States will not be able to disrupt the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline's construction, despite the sanctions they have initiated, however, possible restrictive measures may affect the completion time, Sergei Zhelezniak, a member of the Russian parliament's international affairs committee, told Sputnik on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th June, 2020) The United States will not be able to disrupt the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline's construction, despite the sanctions they have initiated, however, possible restrictive measures may affect the completion time, Sergei Zhelezniak, a member of the Russian parliament's international affairs committee, told Sputnik on Friday.

Earlier this week, US senators introduced new bipartisan legislation to sanction all companies that provide certification, insurance and port facilities for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.

"The US will not be able to disrupt the completion of the Russian-European energy project, no matter what new sanctions they came up with, but [the sanctions] may affect the completion time," Zhelezniak said.

According to the lawmaker, European participants of the project should bear their part of the responsibility for the joint project, as Europe needs high-quality and inexpensive Russian gas, while the US authorities understand that they can only try to drive Russia from the European energy market through blackmail and other methods of unfair competition.

In addition, Zhelezniak said that the US desperately exerting brutal pressure against European countries, feeling the danger of losing control of the situation. There comes a time when the European participants will have to choose between national interests and "dancing to the US funds' tune," he said.

In December, Allseas, the Swiss company responsible for laying down the pipes, withdrew from the Russian-led project under the threat of US sanctions, with just 100 miles of the pipeline left to lay.

Russia is now finishing the twin pipeline, which will carry up to 1.942 trillion cubic feet of gas per year to Germany, on its own.