The Americans do not intend to ease their pressure and will seek to stop the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, strengthening such a policy may entail the continuation of the withdrawal of some companies from the consortium, and this will negatively affect the timing of the project, the leading researcher at the Center for German Studies of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Kamkin told the reporters.
The US State Department said on Wednesday that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, at a meeting with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, announced US objections to the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline. He “underlined the US commitment to working with allies and partners to counter Russia’s attempts” to undermine “collective security” and in this regard noted that the US opposed the project.
“The Americans are not going to ease their sanctions pressure, and in fact, stopping the project is one of the cornerstones of the foreign policy of the President Joe Biden’s administration. Here we see continuity. Of course, this issue is a point of disagreement or a conflict point for the United States. Germany is trying with all its might to defend its right to implement this project. But the danger of American sanctions is precisely in the extraterritorial nature, therefore, increased US pressure may lead to the continuation of the withdrawal of some companies from the consortium, which we have observed in recent years. And this, in turn, can negatively affect the timing of the project”, – said the expert.
In this regard, the agency’s interlocutor did not rule out that Germany will try to find compromises and make concessions to the Americans in order to implement the project, since its closure will not only have serious financial damage for all participants, but will also entail “huge reputational costs” for Germany.
According to the expert, it is still difficult to predict what kind of concessions and compromises can be discussed. As suggested by the interlocutor of the agency, perhaps Germany will start financing the construction of a terminal for the import of American LNG to Europe, as previously reported by the media.
The United States last Thursday again turned to all companies involved in the construction of Nord Stream-2. The US Secretary of State said that such companies risk being subject to US sanctions and demanded that they stop doing so. In response to Blinken’s statements, the Uniper and OMV concerns, which are involved in the Nord Stream-2 project, have come out in support of the pipeline. OMV stressed the economic nature of the Nord Stream-2 project, noting the importance of the gas pipeline for the security of supplies and competitiveness of Europe, Uniper is convinced that the project will be completed, the press services of the companies told RIA Novosti.
Nord Stream-2
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, as a result of which the Swiss Allseas was forced to stop laying.