Russia reacted negatively to the words of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the possible imposition of sanctions against the Nord Stream-2.
Earlier, the diplomat said that the companies involved in the pipeline should "immediately get out" of the project, and otherwise they would have to deal with the "consequences". He added that this means the measures provided for by the CAATSA law ("on Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act"). Similar restrictions may also apply to part of Turkish Stream-2.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova regarded the State Department's actions as political pressure for unscrupulous competition. In her opinion, such threats demonstrate the weakness of the American system, which has no other tools than power techniques.
Senator Konstantin Kosachev called Pompeo's statement political blackmail. He drew attention to the absurdity of the accusations of the American authorities: it turns out that the United States recognizes more than 120 European enterprises as enemies, most of them from France and Germany, NATO allies. "But the US has decided that it is better than European businesses and German authorities to know what Europe needs to ensure its energy security," he said.
State Duma Deputy Leonid Slutsky, in turn, suggested that disrespect for any interests other than their own would sooner or later hit Washington with a boomerang.
State Duma Deputy Igor Ananskikh believes that the US is trying to promote the supply of its liquefied natural gas to Europe in this way. "It is more expensive, less profitable, and it is completely unnecessary for European consumers because of the price: gas from the US is more expensive, and, accordingly, the cost of European products will also become more expensive," RT quotes him as saying.
The politician stressed that Nord Stream 2 is not a project of Gazprom, it involves major European companies, and its goal is to ensure the supply of cheap gas to the European market.
The reaction of the operator
Nord Stream 2 AG called Pompeo's statement a disregard for the interests of the European industry.
The company recalled that Dutch, French, Austrian and German companies had committed to invest almost a billion euros in the project. At the same time, more than a thousand firms from 25 countries are fully committed to its completion.
The operator also noted that the termination of the construction of the gas pipeline threatened Europeans with overpayments for gas in the billions of dollars.
Sanctions against Nord Stream 2
In early June, the US Senate introduced a bill that provides for the expansion of restrictive measures affecting the construction of Nord Stream-2.
This is not the first attempt by Washington to prevent the project from being implemented. The bill providing for sanctions against Nord Stream-2 was previously submitted to the House of representatives by congressmen from Democrats and Republicans. Moreover, at the end of December last year, the US adopted a defense budget that assumed restrictive measures against companies involved in the laying. Because of this, the Swiss Allseas refused to build.
After that, Russia noted that it was able to complete the construction of the gas pipeline on its own.
The Nord Stream-2 project involves the construction of two lines of gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year from the Russian coast through the Baltic sea to Germany. By now, Nord Stream-2 is 93% complete.
The capacity of the Turkish stream gas pipeline, which was commissioned in early 2020, is 31.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The first line with a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas per year is intended for consumers in Turkey, the second-for the countries of southern and South-Eastern Europe. The pipeline runs along the bottom of the Black Sea from Russia to the coast of Turkey. Then there is a land transit route to the border with neighboring countries, from where gas is already exported to Greece, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia. In the future (after the completion of the entire infrastructure), gas will go to Serbia and Hungary.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Based on materials from RIA Novosti, TASS