Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has slammed US sanctions on Nord Stream 2 as “a perfect example” of unfair competition, saying that Washington is imposing more expensive gas on Europe. He continued on by saying that both Moscow and Europe dislike US sanctions on Nord Stream 2, as these measures violate international law.
“We assume that this project will be completed”, Peskov told reporters, when asked whether the construction of the pipeline could be halted due to the sanctions.
“Neither Moscow nor the European capitals, including Berlin and Paris, like these steps. Such actions are a direct violation of international law, this is a perfect example of unfair competition and imposing [US] artificial dominance on European markets, imposing more expensive and uncompetitive production, I mean the more expensive natural gas, on European consumers”, Peskov added.
The statement comes after the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, Nord Stream 2 AG, announced it planned to complete the pipeline in a few months, but did not intend to speculate on the completion date.
In the meantime, the US Senate voted 86-8 in favour of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which will now be forwarded to US President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law. The bill includes sanctions against Nord Stream 2, Turkey, and Syria along with a range of other measures.
The Nord Stream 2 is a joint venture between Gazprom and five European companies: France’s ENGIE, Austria’s OMV, the UK-Dutch conglomerate Royal Dutch Shell, and Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall. The 745-mile-long twin pipeline will carry up to 55 billion cubic metres (1.942 trillion cubic feet) of gas per year from Russia to Germany, passing through the territorial waters or exclusive economic zones of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia, and Sweden.
The United States has been consistently trying to undermine the project, threatening everyone involved with sanctions, while promoting its liquefied natural gas on the European market. Ukraine is also actively opposing Nord Stream 2, fearing to lose revenue from Russian gas transit. Russia has repeatedly stated that the project was absolutely commercial and competitive, and that it did not imply the cancellation of the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine to the EU.
Source: Sputnik
