The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is ready to go, with only German approval needed, according to Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Andrei Kelin, RIA reports.
In response to the question of whether Russia will continue to increase gas supplies to Western Europe if Germany does not issue the necessary permission to start the project, he noted that Russian gas supplies through the Ukrainian gas transportation system increased by 10% this year, exceeding contractual transit obligations.
“As far as we know, we can’t do anything more since the pipeline’s equipment has never been updated or repaired, so it’s just hazardous to use,” the ambassador told the BBC.
At the same time, he emphasized that Western politicians’ claims that Russia is using Nord Stream 2 as a tool of political pressure are untrue.
On October 8, the Times newspaper cited the British Prime Minister’s press secretary as saying, “Russia purposefully limits gas supply to Europe in order to push the European Union to accept the construction of Nord Stream 2,” alluding to the British Cabinet’s position.
Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president’s press secretary, told RIA that Russia sells as much gas to Europe as it buys and that London’s position on the supposedly particular limitation of Russia’s gas supply to the EU in order to approve Nord Stream 2 is populist.
On October 14, Russian Federation Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stated that Nord Stream 2 had been finished, and that commissioning and filling of the pipe with the needed technical quantity of gas had begun.
