The head of the leading faction of the European Parliament - the European People's Party (EPP) - Manfred Weber called for the winding down of the Nord Stream 2 project in the event of an armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He made this statement in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper published on Sunday.
Weber argues that “the threat to Ukraine in light of the recent deployment of Russian troops on the border is real.”
"This situation is of great concern, the escalation of the conflict in the east of Ukraine is not ruled out," he said. According to Weber, the current situation is "a test for NATO and the Western community."
The MEP expressed the opinion that "the North Atlantic Alliance made it clear that the Russian action against Ukraine will have a high price." Weber called on the new ruling coalition of Germany (Social Democratic Party of Germany, Greens and Liberals) to clearly name this “price”.
“If Putin uses weapons, then the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will end. Commissioning would then have been ruled out. The future government of Germany should clearly define this price, ”the MEP said.
Earlier in an article published on the website of the Atlantic Council think tank, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznik called on Western leaders to support his country in the face of pressure from Russia. At the same time, the politician noted that the result of the war on the territory of Ukraine would be millions of refugees, as well as interruptions in the supply of food products to Europe, in particular, grain, from Russia and Ukraine.
The construction of the main gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, which runs along the bottom of the Baltic Sea and has a length of 1,234 kilometers (2,468 kilometers along two lines), has been completed. It is technically ready to pump Russian natural gas to Europe, but no feedstock has yet been delivered through it.
In mid-October, the German regulator, the Federal Networks Agency (BNetzA), suspended the pipeline certification procedure pending the completion of the creation of a subsidiary of Nord Stream 2 AG to operate the national section of the pipeline and transfer key assets and human resources to it.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov called the reports of possible aggression in Ukraine empty and groundless escalation of tension. Peskov stressed that Russia poses no threat to anyone. However, he did not rule out the possibility of provocations to justify such statements, and warned that attempts to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine by force would have the most serious consequences.
