The German government discussed with Washington at different levels the issue of sanctions and threats to sanctions against the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, rejects them, says the Cabinet’s response to a parliamentary inquiry from the Free Democratic Party (FDP) faction in the German Bundestag.
“Regarding the US government’s rejected US sanctions and the threat of sanctions in connection with Nord Stream-2, the German government held talks with the US administration at various levels. It worked closely with partners in the EU and with the EU on the issue of extraterritorial sanctions and participated in 2020 and 2021, in the demarches of several EU member states in Washington against these US sanctions. The federal government also maintains contacts with companies participating in the project”, – the government’s response says, the text of which is at the disposal of RIA Novosti.
The government added that negotiations with the United States on Nord Stream 2 are “confidential”, the government does not provide information on their content.
“Against the background of a decrease in natural gas production in Europe and the cessation of coal use, the need for natural gas imports to Europe may grow in the short and medium term, which, according to the German government, can also be satisfied through the completed Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline. The Nord Stream-2 pipeline is supposed to connect new natural gas fields on the Yamal Peninsula with Europe. At the same time, it corresponds to the state of the art”, – the document says.
The German government also believes that the fund created to support Nord Stream-2 in northern Germany complies with German and European laws.
“The FRG government proceeds from the fact that the fund complies with national and EU laws”, – says the document, which is at the disposal of RIA Novosti.
The reply states that, although there is “a constant exchange on various topics” with the authorities of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, “there was no agreement with the government of the Federal Republic of Germany on the creation and operation of the fund”.
Nord Stream-2 envisages the construction of two lines of a gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The project is actively opposed by the United States, which is promoting its liquefied natural gas to the EU, as well as Ukraine and a number of European countries. The United States imposed sanctions on the gas pipeline in December 2019.