Ukraine and Slovakia have a common vision of Europe's energy security and the threats posed by the Nord Stream 2 project, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his Bratislava visit.
"It's gratifying that we have a common vision of Europe's energy security and an accord on the fact that projects such as Nord Stream 2 carry serious future risks for the EU and its unity," Zelensky told reporters following a meeting with Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová, the Ukrainian President's Office reports.
Read alsoPompeo: U.S. working to build coalition to prevent Nord Stream 2 completionThe president has also stressed that the country thanks Slovakia for its key role in ensuring the reverse gas flow to Ukraine.
NS2: Background
- On July 16, the United States offered that investor companies reconsider their participation in Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.
- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that the State Department intended to impose sanctions against NS2 investors.
- The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry welcomed the United States' readiness to strike NS2 investors with sanctions to hinder completion of the pipe construction.
- The project envisages two branches of a gas pipeline with a total annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas flowing from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany.
- The new pipeline bypassing Ukraine was initially set to be completed by the end of 2019, along with the already existing Nord Stream 1. But due to the sanctions that the U.S. Congress approved at the end of 2019, the companies involved in the NS2 laying were unable to complete the project.
- The founder of Nord Stream 2 AG is the Russian Gazprom. The project is financed by European companies – French Engie, Austrian OMV, British-Dutch Shell, and German Uniper and Wintershall.