MOSCOW, Dec 28 (PRIME) -- Moscow sees no point in U.S. sanctions against Nord Stream-2 now, when the gas pipeline has already been built, Dmitry Birichevsky, director of the economic cooperation department at the Foreign Ministry, told PRIME in an interview on Tuesday.
“We see no point in Washington’s sanctions policy at a time when the Nord Stream-2 pipeline has already been built,” Birichevsky said.
The launch of the new gas pipeline will ensure stable and competitively priced gas supplies to E.U. countries via the shortest route with the lowest environmental costs and strengthen energy security of both Russia and Europe. Thus, Washington’s new sanctions would only cripple the energy security of the European states, Birichevsky said.
Birichevsky said that Russia sees the situation with the certification of Nord Stream-2 as most unfortunate and hopes that it will be resolved in the near future.
According to the official, the European Commission’s plan to ban the extension of long-term contracts for natural gas imports in the E.U. after 2049 is a wild card, as it would leave it for the market to set the gas price. European countries that have signed long-term gas supply contracts with Russia feel much safer now than those who focus on the spot market, which has proven to be highly unstable, he said.
The prospects for transit through Ukraine after 2024 will depend on demand for Russian gas, as it is unclear whether gas will remain Europe’s main heat source in the future, Birichevsky said.
“So far we see that Russian gas is in great demand in Europe,” he said.
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