German Minister: Cancelling Nord Stream 2 will not make Germany less dependent on Russia
Germany's economy minister said he believes the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project can be implemented while Ukraine's interests are protected.
Berlin and Moscow have had many disagreements since Russia annexed Crimea four years ago, but both sides want to implement the Nord Stream 2 project to double the amount of gas that Russia is supplying to Germany.
In an interview with Reuters, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said: “Personally, I believe that the Nord Stream 2 project can be implemented if Ukraine's interests can also be guaranteed.”
“One of the benefits that Ukraine wants is that from 2019 onwards, the majority of gas transited through Ukraine will originate from Russia. There are a lot of discussions about this,” he added.
Mr. Altmeier also affirmed: “We will not reduce our dependence on Russia by canceling the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project and then still have to buy Russian gas from other pipelines.”
“The way for Germany to reduce its dependence on Russia is, in addition to having a long-term gas supply, Germany must also build infrastructure to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG),” he added.
Washington has expressed a desire to supply Germany with liquefied natural gas to replace gas supplied by Russia. Mr. Altmeier said the German government agreed that it wanted to build the necessary facilities to import LNG from abroad.
