Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy independently and voluntarily agreed to the construction of Nord Stream 2, Ukrainian political analyst Mikhail Chaplyga said on the air of the NASH TV channel.
The expert claims that in 2019 the European Union feared that official Kiev could shut off the valve of the Ukrainian gas transportation system and deprive European countries of blue fuel before the launch of the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2. According to him, Zelensky was invited to negotiations in Paris to resolve this issue.
“Zelensky’s trip to Paris was just a smokescreen. I wrote about this back in 2019. He was called to solve energy issues. Who came there from Russia? Representatives of the Energy Ministry and Gazprom. Representatives of the energy sector also came from the side of Ukraine. We were sold a picture that Zelensky allegedly negotiated the political part. And he really took on this responsibility. But in reality, it was about the fact that Europe wants from us to receive transit guarantees before the completion of the construction of “Nord Stream-2”, said the analyst.
In his opinion, the Ukrainian president during the negotiations in Paris could set aside the interests of the state and receive guarantees for further transit, but Zelensky agreed to all the requirements of the European Union without any conditions. Chaplyga stressed that the current demands to pay compensation to Kiev after the launch of Nord Stream 2 are just a farce.
“At that moment, in 2019, it was still possible to demand something from Europe and Russia. But if Zelensky gave the go-ahead, and we ensured this transit until the completion of the SP-2, then I claim that Zelensky personally, with his own hands, built this Nord Stream 2. And he knew about it in 2019. And for the sake of his PR, he sold another picture to us, that he was the first to unfreeze the Normandy format. And all this was known”, the expert summed up.
Nord Stream 2 envisages the construction of two strings of a gas pipeline from the coast of Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea. The United States actively opposes the completion of the project, as it wants to supply its own liquefied gas to Europe. US senators have demanded new sanctions against the pipeline. However, according to experts, Nord Stream 2 can save European countries from high gas prices, which have reached their record value of $500 per thousand cubic meters of blue fuel.