Europe threatens with indefinite sanctions « Nord Stream 2 » as pressure Russia to end the fighting
Europe threatens with sanctions on Nord Stream 2 to put pressure on Russia to end fire. At the same time, Moscow is discussing the revival of the gas pipeline in conversations with Donald Trump’s people to improve economic ties with Washington, according to Wall Street Journal.
The European allies of Kiev have discussed among the prepared energy sanctions against Moscow and the constant blocking of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. They hope to take advantage of Trump’s warning on Thursday that Washington will impose sanctions on any of the countries in the three -year conflict.
US and Russia discuss how Russian gas to return to Europe
- On Saturday, the new Chancellor Fryrich Merz threatened Russia in an interview with Bild newspaper with « massively tightened sanctions » if the Russian president rejected the proposal for a 30-day termination of fire and refused to negotiate a peace agreement.
- A senior German government official said on Saturday that the new Berlin government was decided to take all political and legal measures to prevent the pipeline from reviving.
- Mertz personally talked about his contempt for Putin and criticized the policies of his own predecessors, which led to Germany’s dependence on Russian gas exports.
European Commission President Ursula von der Layen also told the Kiev meeting on a video on Saturday that the block would double the number of ships on a black list of Russian oil. The UK has taken a similar step this week for over 100 ships.
EU representatives said von der Layen had discussed the idea of the block sanctioning « Nord Stream 2 » with Merz when he visited Brussels on Friday, according to Wall Street Journal. The move will need the support of all Member States of the block. This would be a solution that will be separate from the newly proposed EU sanctions, which means that it can enter into force if Russia refuses or disrupts the termination of fire.
The Kremlin raised the issue of the Nord Stream revival in conversations with the Trump administration, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as part of the discussions about improving the economic ties between Moscow and Washington.
Let’s make « North Stream 2 » again great? Why does no noise around the project again
The sanctions of the European Union would stop any such efforts to restore gas flow through it. Reuters and several Western publications have recently written about the idea of an American investor to buy « Nord Stream 2 », which – if the Russians agree at all and find a way through the knit of legal restrictions and regulations – it would probably protect the pipeline from sanking.
The same motive – to the Bulgarian authorities and politicians – was named by Wall Street Journal on Friday in the publication that a large American Hedge Fund was interested in buying part of Turkish Stream in Bulgaria.
The US investment fund wants to buy the Turkish Stream gas pipeline in Bulgaria
- Trump’s first administration tried to limit Nord Stream 2 with sanctions, warning that it was making Germany dependent on Russia.
- It was completed in 2021 with a total capacity with the first pipe of 100 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
- But the second pair of pipes did not work, because Germany has stopped the project certification just before Russia invaded Ukraine. In a coordinated move, the administration of Biden sanctioned the company behind it, hours later.
- In September 2022, the Nord Stream and Nord Stream were blown up, leaving only one of the pipes of Nord Stream 2 intact.
This week, the EU has increased economic pressure on the Kremlin, detailing its plans to reduce most of the energy imports from Russia by 2027. This plan includes a ban on short-term gas imports at the end of 2025 and the cancellation of long-term gas imports by 2027. Europe has spent around € 23 billion.
The plan will be discussed in the next 4 weeks and needs approval by the European Parliament and the majority of Member States. Two of them – Hungary and Slovakia, which supply through Bulgaria through Turkish Stream – said they did not agree with the initiative of the committee.
Although EU representatives say they will continue with the energy ban, regardless of the peace agreement, in recent months there has been speculation that the block can alleviate the ban if Russia accepts a fair peace agreement on Ukraine.
The company, which runs the Nord Stream 2 system, built for about $ 11 billion, is registered in Switzerland and continues to operate. On Friday, a Canton Court of Canton announced that she had agreed with her creditors to restructure her obligations and pay to the smaller ones. Otherwise, Nord Stream 2 would be declared bankrupt.
