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Russia, which was involved in the investigation into the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, may influence the decision to freeze construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline may be halted in response to the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny. The head of the German Foreign Ministry said this on the air of the television channel ZDF on September 11.
“We will put all options on the agenda and make a decision at the appropriate time,” Maas said, responding to a question about possible sanctions against the project.
Russia, having participated in the investigation into the Navalny poisoning, “may contribute” to the failure to make the decision to freeze the construction of Nord Stream 2, he added.
Maas stressed that the incident with the politician is not “a bilateral conflict between Germany and Russia.” “This is a problem for the entire world community,” said the German foreign minister.
Nord Stream 2 is supposed to link Russia with Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The length of the route is more than 1200 km, the capacity of the new gas pipeline will be 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The project has a value of 9.5 billion euros and is financed by the Russian Gazprom and five European companies: the Anglo-Dutch Shell, the German Wintershall and Uniper, the French Engie and the Austrian OMV.
The pipeline construction was expected to be completed by the end of 2019, but then the launch of Nord Stream 2 was postponed until the end of 2020.
Construction of the pipeline was frozen after US President Donald Trump signed the country’s defense budget for 2020 in December 2019, which provided for the introduction of sanctions against the Turkish Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. Following this, the Swiss company Allseas suspended construction work on Nord Stream 2 and pulled its pipe-laying vessels out of the Baltic Sea.
July 21, 2020 House of Representatives, United States House of Representatives, approved the budget of the Ministry of Defense for fiscal year 2021, which provides for new sanctions against Nord Stream 2. July 23 defense budget project approved by the Senate. The versions of the documents adopted by the House of Representatives and the Senate will be coordinated, after which they will be delivered to Trump for his signature.
Gazprom plans to involve Russian pipelayers in the completion of the project.
On the morning of August 20, the plane in which Navalny flew from Tomsk to Moscow, Urgently sat in Omsk due to possible poisoning of politician… The opponent was unconscious, connected to a fan. On August 22, he was taken to the German “Charite” clinic for treatment. Bundeswehr laboratory specialists in the corps Navalny found traces of nerve agent, similar in composition to “Newbie”.
Maas said on September 6 that Russia should investigate the Navalny poisoning, noting that if there is no action by Russia in the coming days, Berlin will have to consult with its partners on a “response” to Moscow. He expressed his hope that the Russian Federation will not force Germany to change its position on Nord Stream 2. Prior to this, the German federal government had not linked the Navalny poisoning to the construction of the gas pipeline.
Nord Stream 2 will be completed despite threats from the United States, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on September 1. On the 8th, she said that she would coordinate any action against Russia in relation to the Navalny poisoning with European partners, except for the introduction of unilateral measures. The chancellor noted that she has not yet decided whether any action against Moscow will affect the construction of the gas pipeline.
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