Photo from UNIAN
U.S. sanctions could force European companies to withdraw from the pipeline project but this would not stop Russia from completing the pipe independently, Heiko Maas claims.
Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas believes that even U.S. sanctions are able to stop the construction of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that is aimed to deliver Russian gas to Europea bypassing Ukraine.
“No one is able to disrupt the project anymore. U.S. sanctions could lead to Western companies, including German concerns, withdrawing from it. However, this should not lead to [Russia] curtailing the project. In this case, Russia will implement it by itself, and then no one will have any influence on the preservation of gas transit via Ukraine," the Social Democratic politician said at dpa's Politik-Talk discussion forum in Berlin, according to Deutsche Welle.
Read alsoFalse start of gas talks. Naftogaz vs Gazprom and EU
Currently, negotiations are underway, with the participation of the EU, on preserving the Ukraine transit route.
"These negotiations, however, will lose their meaning if the United States imposes sanctions, and the Russians independently complete the gas pipeline," warned Maas.
Earlier came the reports that thirteen countries of the European Union supported Romania’s proposal to amend legislation that could complicate the construction of Nord Stream 2.