US pledges to destroy Nord Stream 2 if Russia invades Ukraine

WASHINGTON/UN/BRUSSELS/BERLIN, Feb 8 (PRIME) -- U.S. President Joe Biden pledged during negotiations with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz late on Monday that Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 would cease to exist if Russia invades Ukraine.

“If Russia invades – that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine, again, then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” Biden said. “We will bring an end to it.”

Scholz said, as reported by TV channel Phoenix, that in the case of destabilization in Ukraine, sanctions will be very harsh and all-encompassing.

Germany promises wide-scale and coordinated measures, he added, but did not say whether Germany was ready to stop Nord Stream 2.

Scholz said Germany was not over dependent on Russian gas supplies because gas stands only for about 25% in Germany’s clean energy project, and Russian gas will only be part of it, while the rest of imports will come from Norway and the Netherlands.

U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken said that the U.S. and E.U. are working on prevention of energy supply shocks as a result of development of the crisis on the Ukrainian borders.

Head of the E.U. diplomacy Josep Borrell said that diversification of gas sources for the E.U. was urgent in conditions of current relations with Russia. The E.U. has instruments to introduce sanctions that would be sensitive for Russia but hopes to avoid them, he added.

First Deputy Envoy of Russia to U.N. Dmitry Polyansky said that unilateral sanctions go against sovereignty of the countries.

He also said that Russia is working on a list of goods for which sanctions are not applicable, those measures would be active for humanitarian aid on a constant basis.

End %%mk/jst%%