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The US embassy in Berlin has asked the German government to halt construction of the disputed Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, which will connect Russia with Germany, DPA reported.
“Now is the time for Germany and the EU to call for a moratorium on the construction of the pipeline,” Robin Quinville, business porter at the US embassy in Berlin, told today’s Handelsblatt newspaper.
That would send a clear signal that Europe “no longer accepts Russia’s persistent malicious behavior,” he said.
The diplomat added that the pipeline is not just an economic project, but a political tool for the Kremlin to bypass Ukraine and divide Europe.
The pipeline in the Baltic Sea was shut down late last year under pressure from US sanctions, but Russia has vowed to continue the project on its own.
Construction of a 2.6km section of the gas pipeline could resume this weekend after German authorities approved construction at the end of the year.
The ship “Academic Chersky” has reached the area off the coast of Poland, where there is an unfinished section of “North Stream 2”, according to today’s ship tracking data, cited by the Associated Press. Another Russian pipe laying ship, the Fortuna, sailed from the German port of Wismar and was apparently headed elsewhere.
Nord Stream 2 is almost complete. It would double the supply of Russian natural gas through the Baltic Sea to Germany, Europe’s largest economy.
Opponents of the project, including the United States, Poland and Ukraine, say the pipeline will give Russia economic control over Germany, while the German government says it will create a direct and secure energy supply.
Under a bill agreed two days ago, US congressmen still intend to toughen sanctions against Nord Stream-2, but will consult with their European partner countries before then.
Germany
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