Washington says still against Nord Stream-2, calls it “bad deal”

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (PRIME) -- Position of the U.S. administration on the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline remains the same, Washington still considers it a “bad deal”, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday in a news briefing.

“Our position on Nord Stream-2 has been very clear and it remains unchanged. President (Joe) Biden has made it clear that Nord Stream-2 is a bad deal, it’s a bad deal because it divides Europe, it exposes Ukraine and Central Europe to Russia and Russian manipulation and because it goes against Europe’s own stated energy and security goals,” she said.

Washington continues monitoring activity on completion or certification of the pipeline.

“If such activities take place, we’ll make a determination of the applicability of sanctions. Importantly, sanctions are only one of among many important tools to ensure energy security, and of course, we’ll do this all in partnership with our allies and partners. But our position has not changed on the deal,” she said.

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 is implementing the project together with Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall, Royal Dutch Shell, Austria’s OMV, and France’s Engie.

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