The United States has warned that any company involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline could face penalties

The Government of the President of the United States, Joe biden, asked this Thursday to all companies involved in the construction of the gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 What “immediately” abandon the project, intended to supply Russian gas to Germany, at the risk of being sanctioned.

Biden maintains the same stance on the pipeline as his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump (2017-2021), who urged companies involved in the project, the most Russian and German, to quit the work.

This Thursday, in a statement, the head of American diplomacy, Antony blink, “Reiterated the opinion that any entity linked to Nord Stream 2 runs the risk of being sanctioned by the United States and must immediately abandon its work on the gas pipeline ”.

The US Secretary of State estimated that Nord Stream 2 is a “bad deal” for Germany, Ukraine and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe.

Likewise, following Washington’s traditional position, considered that “the gas pipeline is a Russian geopolitical project aimed at dividing Europe and weakening European energy security”.

Finally, he said that the State Department is closely monitoring attempts to finalize the work and assess the participation of different companies.

Russian gas giant Gazprom intends to complete the project despite sanctions imposed by Washington in 2019. and, in addition, in February, it announced that it planned to complete the construction of the section which crosses the territorial waters of Denmark in April.

Work had been suspended since December 2019, when the Swiss company Allseas, until then in charge of the construction of the submarine section of Nord Stream 2, announced its final withdrawal from the Baltic Sea after the announcement by the United States sanctions against the gas project.

After a year of hiatus and unsuccessful search for other alternatives, Russia has finally resumed construction of the last part of the work.

To date, 94% of the two pipelines of the gas pipeline (2,300 by 2,460 kilometers) have been completed, which will be able to transport 55,000 million cubic meters of gas per year to Europe.

In Europe, the pipeline raises concerns in several countries, especially in the eastern part of the Old Continent, considering that it increases dependence on Russia to supply energy to the European Union (EU).

For the United States, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will increase Europe’s dependence on Russian fuel and compromise the security and independence of the continent, in addition to depriving Ukraine of the important source of income that the transit fees that it charges to Russia for the transport of its gas through Ukrainian soil.

Meanwhile, Russia has accused Washington of wanting to substitute Russian fuel for its liquefied natural gas, which is more expensive than Russian.

For their part, relations between Moscow and Berlin have become more complicated in recent years. The two countries are involved in a joint project, that of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. But several cases of espionage attributed to Russia, the situation in Crimea or the poisoning of Russian opponent Alexei Navalni, hospitalized in Germany, have been a voltage source.

Even in the last hours, Angela Merkel’s government praised the “very clear language” of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, who called Vladimir Putin a “murderer”.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said: “We want to keep the window for dialogue open with Moscow on major issues, disarmament or climate change.” However, in an interview with the German wave, preferred “not to comment or evaluate” the qualifier of “murderer” used by Biden towards his Russian counterpart.

With information from EFE

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