The US promises to work with Ukraine to oppose Nord Stream 2 pipeline
The United States will work with Kyiv to stop the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline initiated by Russia, stated the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo at a press conference following the meeting with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Pavlo Klimkin.
The US State Secretary said that he would not allow Moscow to put Ukraine under pressure. “We do not want our European friends to fall prey to the kind of political and economic manipulation Russia has attempted in Ukraine since it cast off its Soviet shackles,” said Pompeo.
According to Pompeo, Nord Steam 2, if implemented, will undermine the economic and strategic security of Ukraine. In addition, it will put in question the sovereignty of European countries, since they depend on Russian gas supplies.
On November 13, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry agreed that both countries should oppose the Nord Stream 2 project together.
The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has begun in 2018 and should be completed by the end of 2019. The 1220-km pipeline will run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast to the coast of Germany. The capacity of each of the two lines is 27.5 billion cubic meters per year.
The new gas pipeline will double the capacity of the first Nord Stream, the route of which it will basically repeat.