German Chancellor candidate and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union Armin Laschet said that Nord Stream-2 is an exclusively economic project, but the gas pipeline could be stopped if it is used against Ukraine.
“This is a purely economic project. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier at the Munich conference, gas remains gas, no matter whether it comes by sea or by land. In this regard, everything is in order that there is such a project and that it will soon be completed”, – Laschet said on the air of the German TV channel ARD.
According to him, Berlin has European obligations “according to which Nord Stream-2 should not be used against Ukraine. Laschet said that if Moscow does not “adhere to this rule, then at any time, even if the pipeline is ready, it can be stopped again”.
Another candidate for Chancellor of Germany from the Green Party, Annalena Berbock, previously stated that she would not complete the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, since Europe is already “dependent on Russian gas”.
Nord Stream-2 envisages the construction of two directions of a gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the coast of Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. Earlier, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that after the commissioning of Nord Stream-2.