Russia’s Nord Stream 2 is important for Europe’s energy security and sanctions from the United States cannot change that fact about the gas pipeline, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said on Wednesday, according to RIA Novosti.
“We are sure that we will solve this problem and reach compromise in cooperation with European countries, with the European Union,” Kozak told TV channel Rossiya 24.
“The pressure is likely to grow, but the capacities of this pressure are not unlimited, taking into consideration the position of the key EU member states that are interested in having the necessary level of energy security,” he said.
According to Kozak, Russian gas from Nord Stream 2 will be 30 percent cheaper for Europe than American LNG (liquefied natural gas).
Washington introduced sanctions against the pipeline this month, claiming the Russia-led project poses a danger to European security. The $11-billion pipeline built by Gazprom and its European partners extends from Russia to Germany across the bottom of the Baltic Sea. According to Gazprom executives, the pipeline is 93.5 percent complete.
A Swiss-Dutch company, Allseas, that has been laying the pipeline has withdrawn from the project this week, under pressure of U.S. sanctions.
On Thursday, unnamed sources told business newspaper Kommersant that president Vladimir Putin said Russia has a “pipe-laying vessel” to complete the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Putin spoke about the vessel to a gathering of Russian top businessmen late on Wednesday, Kommersant reported. He said, according to the newspaper, the completion of the project would be “stretched” by several months because of the sanctions.
