Berlin is interested in Moscow’s concrete proposals aimed at preserving the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), German Federal Foreign Office spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said on Wednesday.
“If the Russian side has real proposals on how to move toward preserving the treaty, it is interesting, we want and should talk about it”, Adebahr said at a briefing.
US President Donald Trump said in October he wanted to pull the country from the treaty. In early December, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would suspend its adherence to the INF Treaty within 60 days unless Russia returned to full compliance with the agreement.”I do not want to predict what will be discussed during the talks, but I think that this topical political issue could be raised,” Adebahr told a briefing when asked a respective question.
Nord Stream 2 is a joint venture of Gazprom and five European companies. The project envisages the construction of two gas pipelines that will run from Russia, through the Baltic Sea and to a hub in Germany, bypassing Ukraine entirely.
It aims to deliver 55 billion cubic meters (1.9 trillion cubic feet) of Russian natural gas to the EU states every year. The pipeline project has been welcomed by some countries in Europe and opposed by others, including the United States. In that context, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the US leader wanted to protect the interests of US businesses in the area of the liquefied natural gas deliveries to Europe.