Berlin, Feb. 22, LETA – AFP. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Tuesday that he was suspending the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to the recognition of the “republics” of Donbass.
Scholz said he had asked the German regulator to suspend the gas pipeline.
“It sounds technical, but it is a necessary administrative step to prevent the pipeline from being certified and without this certification, Nord Stream 2 cannot start operating,” Scholz said.
“There are other sanctions we can impose if other actions take place, but at the moment it is a matter of doing something concrete,” the chancellor told reporters.
He also encouraged further talks between the West and Russia.
Continuing diplomacy is “important to prevent further escalation and thus disaster,” Scholz said.
“This is the goal of our diplomatic efforts,” he stressed.
The European Union (EU) will agree to impose “strong and massive” sanctions on Russia, Scholch said.
“I am confident we will succeed,” said the chancellor, asking if the EU would be able to reach a unanimous decision.
Germany had previously warned that sanctions against Russia in the event of an attack on Ukraine would include the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
The pipeline under the Baltic Sea will allow Germany, Europe’s largest economy, to double its natural gas supplies from Russia. Germany insists it needs cheap Russian natural gas to give up coal and nuclear power.
However, the project has raised concerns that Western European countries could become increasingly dependent on Russian gas and that Moscow will be able to increase pressure on Ukraine as Europe becomes less dependent on gas transit supplies through Ukraine.
As tensions in Western-Russian relations escalated, Scholz warned on his first day in office of sanctions against Nord Stream 2 in the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine.
The pipeline was completed in September, but German energy regulator BNetzA has announced that Nord Stream 2 certification will last for at least six months.
Robert Habek, the German minister for the economy, energy and climate, has acknowledged that if sanctions were to be imposed on Russia, the German economy would also suffer.
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