Senator slams US statement on Nord Stream 2 as meddling in sovereign partners’ affairs
MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. Washington’s call on Germany to abandon the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and also on the European Union to unite against Russia’s aggression is meddling in sovereign partners’ affairs, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council's (upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev said on Sunday.
"The US strong statement on the Nord Stream 2 with the call on Germany to abandon it and on the EU to unite its ranks against "Russian aggression" is a clear and imprudent meddling in the affairs of sovereign partners, to which the US has no right to have any relation," Kosachev wrote on his Facebook page.
On Saturday, the US State Department welcomed the European Parliament’s resolution on Ukraine and the Nord Stream 2 as well as the decision of the EU heads of state and government to extend sectoral economic sanctions against Russia for another six months. Deputy State Department Spokesperson Robert Palladino called on Germany to "heed the concerns of the many neighbors whose security will be damaged by this pipeline." He also noted that the US would continue to work with European partners and allies to "present a unified front against the Kremlin’s aggression."
Kosachev has described the US attempts to dominate and interfere in the other states’ affairs as "very dangerous for the entire world and destructive for international cooperation." According to the senator, this stance runs counter to the interests of Russia and other countries, which are not US satellites.
The senator also said he was disappointed by the stance of Germany and the EU, which do not defend their own interests. "What disappoints me in this situation in the first place? No, not the US behavior, there are no illusions about this for ages. What disappoints me is the silence of Germany, on whose interests the US encroaches, and the EU’s passivity, which does not respond to the US incursion into the EU sovereign affairs," he pointed out.
On December 12, the European Parliament passed a resolution on the report "On the Implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement," which condemned the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline of being a political project that poses a threat to Europe’s energy security and efforts on diversification of energy supply sources. In accordance with the resolution, the European Parliament is requesting the cancellation of the project.
In late November, it was reported that about 300 km of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline had already been laid.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is expected to come into service at the end of 2019. The pipeline is set to run along the Russian Baltic Sea coast bed to the German shore. Each of the pipeline’s two stretches will have a capacity of 27.5 bln cubic meters. The new pipeline will double the capacity of the first stretch and will basically follow its route. The total cost of the pipeline is estimated at €9.5 bln.
Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said earlier that if the construction of the pipeline is completed in compliance with the schedule, gas supplies via Nord Stream 2 may start on January 1, 2020.
http://tass.com/politics/1036302