Russian Ambassador to UK declares 'Nord Stream-2' ready for operation
Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin announced that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is ready for operation. It is only pending the consent of the German authorities.
"The fact is that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline already exists, is ready, is fully prepared for operation, and we are waiting for a definitive decision from Germany. As soon as the decision is made, gas supplies will naturally be carried out through this pipeline," Ambassador Kelin said.
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| Nord Stream-2. Photo © Sputnik / Iliya Pitalev |
Asked if there were plans to increase gas supplies to Europe if Germany did not issue permits in time, the Russian diplomat replied that this year the amount of gas transited through Ukraine had increased by 10%.
According to him, pumping a larger volume of gas is impossible due to design flaws in Ukraine's gas transportation system – "the Ukrainian pipeline equipment has never been upgraded, modernized and rebuilt, so using it is simply very dangerous," the Ambassador explained.
Mr. Kelin also commented that the arguments of Western politicians that Russia is using "Nord Stream-2" to exert political pressure are just "meaningless nonsense".
Europe thinks of ways to acquire 'Nord Stream-2'
In accordance with the EU Gas Directive, the European partners of the pipeline may become the owners of Nord Stream 2, analyst Daniel Chizhevskiy said in a conversation with Polish Radio.