The US under fire for its recent decision to deepen the sanctions against Russia because of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, CGTN reports. German and the EU companies involved in building a Russian natural gas pipeline also suffer from Trump’s decision.
Germany accusing the US President of interfering in national and bloc sovereignty. “They will hit German and European companies and constitute an interference in our internal affairs,” said Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer.
Meanwhile, the Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed the White House, accusing it of seeking to prevent other countries from developing their economies.
“A state with $22 trillion in public debt is banning solvent countries from developing their economies,” Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page.
“The American ideology does not like global competition. Soon they’ll be asking us to stop breathing.”
In its official statement, Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that Russia “will continue to implement its economic projects regardless of anyone’s sanctions.”
Nord Stream 2 is vital for the EU supply security
According to Trump’s bill signed on Friday, the sanctions cover firms laying pipe for Nord Stream 2, which seeks to double gas capacity along the northern Nord Stream pipeline route to Germany.
For the EU, completing the project is essential for regional supply security. So, all the companies supporting the project, promised to work on finishing the pipeline as soon as possible, Nord Stream 2 said in a statement.
The NS2 pipeline, which will run along the Baltic Sea floor, was expected to start up in the first half of 2020.
On Friday, Nord Stream 2 contractor, Swiss-Dutch company Allseas, announced it had suspended pipe-laying activities while it expecting guidance on the regulatory, technical and environmental issues from the US authority.
The €9.5-billion project NS2 runs parallel to the existing Nord Stream pipeline. The project is led by Russia’s state-owned energy supplier Gazprom and five EU energy companies.
