US lawmakers have agreed to extend sanctions on companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, just as the Russian-led company behind the project vowed to restart construction anytime soon — about a year after work was halted.
More than 120 companies from 12 European countries could be affected, according to reports.
It’s still the same molecules that we are buying. I mean, we get the gas molecules, Russia gets the euros.”
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, deputy parliamentary leader of Germany’s liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) told DW that it it didn’t make a difference which ways Germany would receive the gas it needs.
“Whether it comes through a pipeline through the Baltic Sea or across a pipeline across Belarus and Poland or Ukraine, it’s still the same molecules that we are buying. I mean, we get the gas molecules, Russia gets the euros.”
There are hopes in Germany now that President-elect Joe Biden would take a more pragmatic approach than Trump.
On Friday, Nord Stream AG didn’t explicitly confirm the restart to DW but pointed to the German waterways authority statement from a few days earlier.
The Switzerland-based Zug company said its representatives would not comment on the draft US bill. However, company officials agree with the European Commission and EU governments that consider the sanctions a violation of international law.
Source: Extract from Deutsche Welle (DW)
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