US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, during a press conference on Wednesday with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, expressed his country’s concern over the Russian Nord Stream gas pipeline project.
During the conference, on the sidelines of the Berlin-2 conference, Blinken said that the Russian line is one of the most important points of contention between Washington and Berlin.
He added that the Nord Stream gas pipeline project represents a threat to energy security in Europe, “and we seek to ensure that Russia does not use the gas pipeline as leverage against Ukraine or others.”
On the other hand, the German minister said that his country is engaged in talks with Washington and Kiev regarding the Russian gas pipeline.
Maas
But Blinken reiterated that the United States and Germany would stand together to prevent Russia from carrying out “provocative activities” in Ukraine.
“Germany and the United States will continue to stand together against any dangerous or provocative activities by Russia, whether it is the encroachment on Ukrainian territory, the imprisonment of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, or the dissemination of disinformation in our democracies,” he said.
The total cost of the Nord Stream 2 project is about 10 billion euros, and 55 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas is scheduled to be transported to Germany via the Baltic Sea.
The project is opposed by the United States, Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states, and Russia’s Gazprom, the multinational Shell, Austria’s OMV, France’s Engie and Uniper are participating. Uniper) and the German “Wintershall”.