State Department spokesman Ned Price explained the reason for the US rejection of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline. TASS reports.
Price said that the United States opposes the project from a geopolitical point of view. According to him, the gas pipeline, if completed, will provide Russia with leverage over the closest US partners in Europe, which worries Washington.
A State Department spokesman noted that this is a bad deal for European countries, which runs counter to their energy goals. He stressed that the US will continue to work with Germany and other European allies to support Europe’s energy security goals.
Earlier, the United States expanded sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The Ministry of Finance has added to another sanctions list the pipe-laying ship Fortuna, which is engaged in the construction of the gas pipeline. Also, restrictions under the law “On the Protection of Energy Security of Europe” have been imposed on the owner of the ship, the company “KBT-Rus”.
Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, laid along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. It was supposed to be put into operation at the end of 2019, but the completion of construction had to be postponed due to US sanctions. Construction is hindered in Washington as American liquefied natural gas (LNG) competes with Russian pipeline fuel for the European market
Currently, Nord Stream 2 is 95 percent complete.