Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline nears completion
On July 21, the Kremlin said that at the initiative of the German side, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The leaders were satisfied with the near completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
During the phone call, Russian President V. Putin noted the German side's consistent commitment to the implementation of this project, which is of a particularly commercial nature and aims to strengthen the energy security of Germany and the European Union. German Chancellor Angela Merkel informed about the results of discussions on the situation surrounding the gas pipeline during her recent talks with US President Joe Biden in Washington.
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| Russian President V. Putin. |
As a separate topic, the Russian President and the German Chancellor mentioned the possibility of extending the agreement between Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz on gas transit through Ukraine beyond 2024.
When exchanging opinions on the internal crisis in Ukraine, including in the context of the results of the meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin on July 12, the Russian President paid special attention to the openly discriminatory law “on the indigenous peoples of Ukraine” adopted by the country’s parliament. The Russian and German leaders also stressed the need for the Kiev authorities to strictly implement the 2015 Minsk “Package of Measures”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to continue personal contacts.
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| Construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Photo: Sputnik |
Earlier, Berlin and Washington signed an agreement on the Nord Stream 2 project. As US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland said, Germany has pledged to seek EU sanctions against Moscow if Russia uses energy exports as a weapon against European countries. Moscow has repeatedly called for an end to the mention of Nord Stream 2 in any politicized context, as it is a commercial project that benefits both Russia and the European Union./.
