The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is an economic project and it must be completed, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a press conference on Friday, TASS informed.
“Our opinion is that the Nord Stream 2 must be completed,” she said. “I consider unreasonable to link this economic project to the Navalny case,” the Chancellor noted.
“We are against extraterritorial sanctions,” Merkel added.
The Nord Stream 2 project contemplates the construction of two pipeline strings with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. To date, 93% of Nord Stream 2 has been finished. The construction was suspended at the end of 2019 when the Swiss pipe-laying company Allseas stopped work due to US sanctions.
On August 20, a plane carrying Alexei Navalny made an emergency landing in Omsk after the Russian opposition figure had suddenly felt unwell in mid-flight. Navalny was taken to the hospital in a coma and was hooked up to a ventilator.
On August 22, he was taken to Germany for treatment at the Charite hospital. German doctors said on August 24 that they had found signs of Navalny’s intoxication with substances from the cholinesterase inhibitors group, adding that the specific substance had not been identified. German medics added that there is no threat to Navalny’s life; however, there may be long-term consequences for his nervous system. Meanwhile, doctors at the hospital in Omsk informed that no cholinesterase inhibitors had been found during the initial tests held in Russia.