Official: EU understands Russia guarantor of energy security

VIENNA, Jul 2 (PRIME) -- The E.U. officials understand that Russia is the guarantor of Europe’s energy security, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told PRIME on June 30.

“I believe that everyone in Europe realizes that it is Russia that is the guarantor of the continent’s energy security. As to the U.S. ambitions to ensure the security, now the U.S.-made materials account for a 2% share of Europe’s gas portfolio,” he said.

In June, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. was actively working with European governments and businesses to convince them of abandoning the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline project.

Grushko also said that economic factors should be basic for energy cooperation, it must be de-politicized to a maximal extent. Some countries seek for “specific economic dividends or a stronger positions in Western unions” using attempts to politicize the pipeline project.

The Nord Stream-2 is a commercial project which is fully viable both in financial and resource terms, Grushko added.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages construction of two lines of a natural gas pipeline with an annual capacity of up to 55 billion cubic meters, running from the Russian shore to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Russian gas giant Gazprom will implement the project together with Germany’s E.ON and BASF, Royal Dutch Shell, Austria’s OMV, and France’s Engie.

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